Becoming a Bat Mitzvah is a big deal. It means that I am becoming an adult or a daughter of the commandments in the Jewish community. I have worked towards this moment my whole life. Now that I will be a Bat Mitzvah, I will be responsible for following the commandments in the Torah, such as being loyal to God. In Sheva, I learned a lot about what it means to be Jewish and how Reform Judaism works. I have also learned a lot about my Bat Mitzvah. I learned what it really means to be an adult in Jewish society as well. It means I have taken on the responsibility to follow God’s commandments. Now that I am a Jewish adult, I want to become more involved in the Jewish community by doing more Mitzvah Projects. I think that it is important to help my community, especially since I am fortunate enough to have a loving family, food on the table, and a roof over my head. I plan to keep learning about Judaism by making my own decisions on how I am going to be as a Jewish person. That way, I will continue to grow and learn. I am going to pass Judaism on to others by demonstrating through my behavior what it means to be Jewish, by being a kind and good person. Being Jewish means that I have a community that follows the same commandments and has the same beliefs as me. It means that we are all in it together.

For my Mitzvah Project I chose to make care packages for the homeless at A Child’s Place. I chose to do this as my project because I think that there are lots of people in this world who just can’t have all of the things they need, so I think that it is important that I help them out. I want to make sure that I help them in the way that they need help. This makes me realize how fortunate I am and it teaches me to be grateful for what I have. In doing this I fulfilled the mitzvah of helping those in need.

Sidney is the daughter of Teri and Henry Hipp, and the sibling of Isabelle. She is the granddaughter of: Linda Copilevitz, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Bruce and Kay Copilevitz, of Atlanta Georgia, and Pia Hipp, of Stuttgart, Germany.

Please send messages of “mazal tov” to: terihipp@aol.com