My favorite part about being Jewish is the sense of community that I feel when I’m at Temple. To become a bat mitzvah, for me, means that I’m going to be a bigger part of the Jewish community and be able to make a bigger change in the world. Something that I’ve learned about myself going through the Sheva program is that when you form a relationship with the people in your class, you hear lots of different opinions and you’re able to be yourself.

For my mitzvah project, I taught kids how to ride a horse and went to Time Out Youth and made dinner. Time Out Youth is an organization for kids that are anywhere from eleven to twenty four who are LGBTQ plus or are supportive of LGBTQ. My friends and I went and made them dinner and got to know some of the kids there and what they do at Time Out Youth. I chose to go to T.O.Y because I think that people are just people and I wanted to help out some people that aren’t treated by society fairly and to show them that there are people in their side. I got to learn about what some of the kids have gone through, being kicked out of their house for some, and how they were able to build relationships. When I was teaching horseback riding, I learned patience and how to be a good leader for those watching me.

I plan to maintain a sense of community with my Jewish family even after I become a bat mitzvah. I plan to do this by teaching at the religious school and possibly by being a Torah tutor so that I can help future bar and bat mitzvahs.