Holden: 13 Years (Bar Mitzvah!)

For this year's Holden Birthday Newsletter, we are following his bar mitzvah Earth Day theme and recycling the speech we read to him during the service.

(D)

Holden: Last month, Cantor Stacey called me out of the blue for no other reason than to gush about you. She was impressed by how “engaged” you were with your studies, and said you were both “interested” and “interesting.” While she’s certainly not the first of your teachers to stop me in my tracks to tell me how much they enjoy teaching you, this felt especially great. We have watched you work so hard over the years, and especially this past year, on becoming a bar mitzvah. The way you have taken on more than is expected and dedicated yourself, and your time, to studying makes us so proud.

(K)

Being proud of you is not an unusual feeling. As we’ve watched you grow, we are continually amazed by so many things about you. You’ve always worked so hard in school, earning a spot on the Honor Roll every semester in middle school. You’ve fostered fantastic friendships as evidenced by all of your friends here today. You’ve discovered a love for the outdoors with hiking, camping, rock climbing, biking and skiing. You are a trusted teammate, whether it’s in the classroom or on the soccer field. You’ve got an incredible love for your brother. You work hard to include him and to teach him important life lessons. And you’ve got determination. You’ve realized that things don’t always go your way and while you may get down for a little bit, you bounce right back trying harder than ever.

(D)

You are funny in both the goofy boy way, but also in a more grown-up, sarcastic and, occasionally, inappropriate way that we enjoy probably more than we should.You care a whole lot about your friends and your family, and you understand the importance of community connection. You are giving of your time and dedicated to helping others, as we’ve seen in your involvement with the Associated Student Body at school and willingness to volunteer at Temple. You are kind and compassionate, as shown through your Mitzvah Project helping animals at the spcaLA shelter.

(K)

It’s amazing how we held a newborn baby in our arms for the first time and it was like looking at a blank first page in a thick book of many unwritten chapters. Of course, we had our hopes and dreams for you. We looked at you and wondered: Will he be kind? Will he be smart? Will he be handsome like his father? And we worked hard every day from there trying to make you healthy, successful and happy. It’s a difficult and frustrating job, but we see now, looking at you standing here as a man, that it is possible.

(D)

You’ve come so far from that screaming baby who never wanted to be put down. All our wishes for you so far have come to be. But there is so much more ahead. So many unknowns. So many temptations. So many opportunities to veer off course from your studies or your connections to Judaism or your community. We have many more wishes for you, Holden.

 (K)

We wish for you to be bold and brave.

(D)

We wish for you to be full of love, joy and kindness.

(K)

We wish for you to discover your dreams, and follow them.

(D)

We wish for you to carry with you always the perseverance and the spirit of the generations that came before you.

(K)

We wish for you to never, ever forget that, no matter what life throws at you, we are there with you always.

(D)

We wish for you to always know how proud we are of you and how much we love you.