Bar mitzvah: Thank yous

[Shared by Rachel at the party.]

Our experience this weekend is an incredible demonstration to me of how life’s big events happen in community. There are so many people we want to thank.

For all of you who were at the service yesterday: Your kindness and support for Jordan were palpable. We are grateful to you all for putting your heart into an extra song or two so that he had time to recover. Gabe, thank you for your calm guidance. And Ian, you were gracious and flexible and funny; Jordan could not have asked for a better partner yesterday. Thank you.

Thank you to our wonderful extended families for coming together today. Some of you all were meeting for the first time this weekend and I think everybody just loves everybody, am I right?? Thank you to my brother Michael for jumping in with both feet, to my aunt Linda and uncle Fred for coming the farthest (they’re from Maine), and to my aunts Jes and Deena and my godfather Alan for standing in for my parents on the bimah. It means a lot to me. Thank you to Dale’s sister Kari for making hundreds of cookies for the lunch yesterday, to Danny and Alan for the honor of the Aliyah, and again to Danny for lifting the Torah.

A special thank-you-for-coming to Selena Mitchell, who was my best friend when I was thirteen (she left last night). And we are grateful that our other oldest friends Rebekah and Bob are here with their family, especially since it’s Rebekah’s birthday today.

Thank you to Davey Friedman, Jordan’s tutor, an alum of both SJCS and the Northwest Boychoir, and a perfect match for Jordan. Rock-solid preparation sustained Jordan through yesterday and that’s what you gave him.

Thank you to Jordan’s teachers – at SJCS, at Billings, and at Beth Am – for guiding and inspiring him. Some of you have helped him write, or sing, or analyze, or sympathize; some of you have taught him our historical context, both secular and Jewish, and encouraged him to see himself as an emerging adult who can and must act in the world. Thank you.

Thank you Jess and Jules, for your friendship, and also for being the most fun, organized, gently persistent partners a bar mitzvah family could ask for. Several years ago, you asked us how the bar mitzvah partner system worked at Beth Am, and when we said you have the option to choose your partner you said “That’s great! We choose you!” We are so glad you did.

Thanks to everyone who is helping make this party great today – especially Wendy for leading the dancing, the band for raising all our spirits, and Sabina who is taking photos.

And thank you to all of you who are Jordan’s local community in everyday life. You have carpooled him, chaperoned his field trips, and brought him on vacation with you; you have opened your home to him, fed him, and helped him to have a life full of beloved friends. You all are an incredible community that Dale and I personally cherish and depend on. Thanks to you Jordan knows that we are not in this life alone; we work together, we help each other when we need it, and best of all we celebrate together. THANK YOU!