My favorite thing about being Jewish is learning a different language, the culture and the food. I also like how we can ask questions about everything, like God, the stories in the Torah and more.

To become a Bat Mitzvah means that you are transitioning to adulthood.  That means more responsibilities, a little bit more freedom, and most of all, you get to choose about being Jewish. During Sheva, I liked learning about respecting people of different faiths and those who have different backgrounds.

My mitzvah project was making bags of food and dinner for the homeless at Room at the Inn.  We also cleaned up and made the beds after they left the JCC.  I choose to do this for my mitzvah project because it goes with my Torah portion, how we should help people who are in need or that are less fortunate than us. What I got out of my mitzvah project was that we forget about people who are less fortunate than us, and we take our own lives for granted.  For example, always wanting more of stuff. Even though we have all that we need, we still want more.  We still spend our money on things that we don’t even need.  We need to really think about how we should use our money and make wise decisions about how we are or what we are spending it on.

After my Bat Mitzvah, I plan to still go to Friday night services and learn more about our culture, and what we believe in.  I’m going to celebrate the holidays and have a Shabbat dinner sometimes. I’m also going to Hebrew High next year and I plan on being a madricha in the Religious School.

Emily is the daughter of Eric and Tracey Lederer.  She is the sister of Mia Lederer.  She is the grandaughter of Dale Lederer of Charlotte, Pam Murtland of Beech Mountain, NC and Martin Lederer of San Diego, CA.  Send notes of mazal tov.