I love being Jewish, but my favorite thing is the food. It is so delicious! My favorite food is matzah ball soup. I also love latkes, they are great as well.

I have learned so much stuff in preparation for my bar mitzvah. I learned trope and new prayers.

Doing my mitzvah project was really fun, I chose to volunteer at The Relatives, which is an organization that my family and I feel deeply about. It is a house where children from all ages come to be safe. Some children have run away and some have been taken out of their home by CPS in order to keep them safe. They stay at The Relatives for up to two weeks and then they go into a foster home. Spending time with the kids at The Relatives was a lot of fun.
After my bar mitzvah, I plan to keep attending temple so that I can keep all of the knowledge that I have about Judaism and so that I can learn more.

Ellis is the son of Franny Goshtasbpour and Stephen Small. He is the brother of Emma Small. He is the grandson of Homayoun Goshtasbpour of Toronto, Canada and Patty and Gus Small of Atlanta, Georgia. Notes of mazel tov can be sent to Ellis.