Over the past few months, we have seen how social distancing has impacted every aspect of our lives. For a number of teens and their families that also included B’nai Mitzvah celebrations.  Many teens mark this milestone of being in counted as a Jewish adult by creating a D’var Torah or a speech highlighting lessons learned from the Torah, from Jewish mentors and role models, and from the process of preparing for this Jewish rite of passage.  

This week is Shavuot, a Jewish festival that marks an important rite of passage for the Jewish people, receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. One tradition of Shavuot is to stay up all night learning as a community. To enhance our holiday experience, we invited teens who recently celebrated their Bar/Bat/B’nai Mitzvah to share their important words of wisdom.  

Today we are excited to present Springboard’s Shavuot Learning Project. This project features a collection of texts prepared by recent B’nai Mitzvah students.  We invite you to join us in learning from these incredible teens as part of your Shavuot celebration. We want to extend our thanks to Adam, Ari, Ellie, Elisha, Harper, Josh, Julia, Lorelai, and Nina for helping our community learn together, even though we are unable to be together in person.  

Mazel Tov to all the teens who contributed to this project and Chag Shavuot Sameach!