My favorite things about being Jewish include spending time with family on Jewish holidays and eating very good food, especially my Mom’s food.  To me becoming a Bar Mitzvah means that I have new responsibilities in my community. I know I need to be more responsible.

While studying for my Bar Mitzvah, I have learned that preparing for big things can be difficult but going through this experience has made me a better person and more appreciative of being Jewish.

For my Mitzvah Project, I decided to work at Friendship Trays. Friendship Trays is an organization that provides cooked food for people that are not able to get out of their house. We make sure that the homebound are able to have good meals, every day. Through volunteering I met many different kinds of people that I may not have met otherwise. Many had special needs, and some had other issues including not being able to find job so they could support themselves.   I plan to keep active in Temple Beth El and in the Jewish community by becoming a madrich in the Hebrew school. I also plan to learn more about Judaism through my parents, Grandparents and being active at Temple.

Oliver is the son of Andrew and Jill Halverstam and the brother of Ivey. Send notes of mazal tov.