And it was with much excitement that the boys and I walked over to our next door neighbor's house, with the Torah, for our last evening of Bar Mitzvah tutoring. Then my day school dollars started paying off: first, Sam helped me roll the Torah to the correct spot (it's one big scroll, with all of the 5 Books of Moses written out in Hebrew, and you have to find the correct location for that week's reading...and this Torah does not get used that often, so it was rolled to a totally different area).
We were able to find our place because just that morning, at All School Tefillah, the Masoret (tradition) teacher had described an unusual feature about this week's reading: there was a sort of make-shift parenthesis (made from the letter Nun) around the paragraph (Numbers 10: 35-36). We spotted it right away!
So after we found the correct spot, we were each (me, Sam, my student and his mom) able to practice our Torah readings for this Shabbat. It was really sweet to see how excited my neighbor and her son were - it was rather thrilling to have a real Torah with us!
The Bar Mitzvah was yesterday morning, and it was LOVELY. The setting was wonderful - she'd rented a hall at Clark University, and the stage was backed by full-length windows looking out on the garden. They only had about 50 guests, at least half of whom were not Jewish (the Dad is not Jewish). So it was up to the Rothkopf family to really represent a religious community (since her family also is not very observant). Hopefully we did a good job. My student was wonderful. I've known this kid since he was 2 years old, and it's so cool to see what a delightful young man he has become. He worked really hard all year, learning the prayers and learning how to read from the Torah. Sammy read, too, which was great, and also acted as the Second Gabbai (the gabbais are the people who stand on either side of the Torah and make sure the reader is pronouncing things correctly - the Torah has no vowels or music marks, so the Gabbi gets to read from text WITH vowels and music, as a guide).
David was supposed to read Torah, too, but was having a lot of trouble getting it to stick in his head. So Sam followed in the Torah while David read his section from the book instead. David also had to be First Gabbai, which means also calling up the various people for the honors. He had to, because I was reading 3 other Torah portions...
(Sofia, by the way, stayed home with a babysitter, which made things much easier, and Micah managed to hook up with a delightful young lady at the Bar Mitzvah, and they apparently played hockey with all the candy out in the hallway during the service...)
The paternal grandfather used to be a Presbyterian minister, and he gave a very moving speech before the Torah reading. A's speech, about the Torah and Haftorah readings, was lovely. I also had a few words to say about the day.
It was a very sweet and moving experience, marred only by the stress of knowing that the importance of it was completely not understood by nearly everyone else in attendance. But I am so proud of my student, and of my friend (his mom) for all the hard work they did this year.
David and I both took naps when we got home, and Sofia was already sleeping, so the boys played quietly downstairs. Once we woke up, we all went outside to enjoy the gorgeous (finally!) weather. The kids all washed the cars, and David and Sam played basketball, while I cleaned out the garage. At night, we had Movie Night, watching "Mamma Mia" all together until 10 pm.
Today, both boys had birthday parties. David took Sam to M's house, where they all got in N's car and went to Fenway Park for a party in the Batting Cage! (or something like that - I know almost nothing about baseball!).
Micah's party was at a My Gym in Newton, and it was all Orthodox boys (except Sofia, who barged right in...) wearing tzitzit and kippahs...except Micah... But he had a blast. The birthday boy is the son of one of the local kosher caterers, and he and Micah have been friends for a few years, having met at our shul and at Chabad the few times we've gone there. Micah's friend EJ was also there, so that was a bonus (bonus for me, too, since his mom is one of my dearest friends!). Sofia also had tons of fun. I loved seeing how she was able to do so much, but it did convince me that at this age, she'll be better off starting in the Adaptive class at the gymnastics place, because of her attention span...or lack thereof...
Miss Sofia is lounging on my floor right now, having declined David's attempts to put her to bed. She's asking for "ice" (i.e. frozen fruit puree, her favorite dessert). Tough, kiddo, it's 10pm!
Ok, pictures:
My three kids at Sam's Birthday Diner on Tuesday evening:
Sam getting his birthday candle:
Thursday at the day school, they had a choir concert, and Sofia and her friend GiGi had a blast coloring, and then admiring themselves in the mirror. For some reason, they were both chicly dressed all in black that day:
Today at the Gym party - Sofia in the Ball Pit:
Micah and Sofia:
"Flying":
The first time, Micah managed to turn completely upside down:
and the second time, he conned them into letting him go backwards (and upside down, but my camera was too slow):
After the flying, both my kids found other places to hang upside down:
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