Bar/Bat Mitzvah Stories

Michael Bussell was eight years old when he first checked into Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago with a life threatening condition. For two months he was put on bed rest. Now, five years later, Michael has decided that for his Bar Mitzvah project he wants to give back to the hospital that saved his life. 

“When I was in the hospital, they were building a teen room but there weren’t any portable games to play with,” says Michael. “When you’re on bed rest it’s hard to get up by yourself. It’s hard to get out of bed. You’re just in your hospital room all day. It’s like being cooped up in your house without your friends there.”

Now, thanks to Michael, the teen room, located in The Janice and Kimberly Brown Family Life Center, has tons of games that teenagers can enjoy and even bring back to their rooms. “Having toys makes you feel normal, not like you’re in the hospital,” says Michael.

To amass the three hundred and fifty-odd games, toys and comic books collected for the Brown Center, Michael distributed donation request flyers to his homeroom and to his fellow students at Beth Emet religious school. He also posted notices in his brother’s acupuncture clinic and in his tennis coach’s apartment complex.
The toy and game drive was a success. “I thought no one would want to give anything for the drive because most people like to sell their old games,” says Michael, “I had to open my mind to asking people for help, and when I did, I found out that people did want to give.”

Michael says the best part about his Bar Mitzvah project is that he knows he is helping sick kids create positive memories from their hospital stay. “It’s hard to explain,” he says. “A hospital smells like a hospital, but when you go to Brown Center, you feel like a regular kid again.”

Michael’s Bar Mitzvah took place on October 23rd at Beth Emet Synagogue.  “Becoming a Bar Mitzvah is one of life’s big turning points,” he says. “I wanted to do a great personal project for mine. I wanted do a mitzvah.”

Well you certainly did. Way to go, Michael!