My favorite thing about being Jewish is having different experiences than most of the people at my school, and getting to learn how to speak and read Hebrew. It means a lot to me to become a bar mitzvah because it signifies me being grown up and having to do it during a pandemic made it a lot harder. During my preparation for my bar mitzvah, I learned more about myself and that when I really try I can do big things.

For my mitzvah project, I helped my brother with his Hebrew because he was struggling at the beginning of the year and over zoom he does not have a lot of learning chances. I plan to keep learning about Judaism because the 6 years I have done so far have been fun and memorable.

Jaden is the son of Tammy and Steve Hawa. He is the brother of Julia and Jonah Hawa. He is the grandson of Sharon Relkin (z’’l) and Emmy Hawa of Washington DC. Send notes of mazel tov.