On Erev Shavuot, we celebrated this year’s Confirmation.  Following the traditional private ceremony with Confirmands, immediate family and rabbis, cantors and educators, the class helped to lead the congregational Erev Shavuot services.  In addition to leading t’fillot with Cantor Rosen and our Head Songleader Avishai. Read on to hear what our future leaders are thinking about.  We have so much to be proud of, and even more to look forward to as these young people continue to make their mark in our community! 

 

 

Confirmand Reflections  

  

Yona Zelcer-Noble: On Welcoming: Hello everybody, thank you all for coming today to celebrate our confirmation. Some of you may be wondering what exactly confirmation is, and why we would continue to go to Hebrew school even past our bar and bat mitzvahs. To be honest, I’ve thought similarly! Confirmation isn’t just Hebrew school. Confirmation is what it sounds like. It’s us, as Jewish teens, 3 or 4 years after our bar and bat mitzvahs, coming back, and confirming that this is who we want to be, and this is the community we are committing ourselves to. A bnai mitzvah celebrates us becoming Jewish adults, and 3 years later, after existing in the world as Jewish adults, confirmation is us confirming ourselves as such. Now, with the way the world is, and the challenges we face existing as Jews, this is even more important.   

  

Aliyah Sandler: On Redemption: Hi, I’m Aliyah and my name’s Hebrew meaning, to ascend, is something I’ve always valued. Our ascent from Egypt to Sinai, from bondage to liberation. In leaving Egypt, we broke free from oppression and as a people, established a place of community and spirituality.   

  

In a 2015 CJN article, our own Rabbi Splansky spoke about the Jewish search for redemption, how some believe the Messiah will deliver it from on high, while others believe our work to repair the world is the path to redemption. Whatever one believes, here tonight, within these walls we come together as a community of love and joy to celebrate and honour our heritage, identity and faith. In Egypt, Israelites faced oppression and persecution like what Jewish people around the world face today. As each one of us entered this sanctuary it is my belief that we too were able to ascend from the hate that surrounds us in everyday life into a room where we understand one another.  

  

Where we celebrate Judaism. Where we honour G-d. In a world that can feel so broken there is something so beautiful in the fact that when we gather here to pray and sing and hope we are contributing to a sense of communal healing.    

  

Andrew Berkes: On Community: In Judaism, community holds profound significance, serving as a pillar of support, identity, and tradition. It embodies the concept of kehillah, emphasizing communal responsibility and collective well-being. Through shared rituals, celebrations, and teachings, individuals find connection to their heritage and purpose within a cohesive unit. The synagogue, or beit knesset, acts as a focal point for communal worship and engagement, fostering bonds that extend beyond religious practices to encompass social, emotional, and practical support networks. From the joyous gatherings of holidays to the somber unity in times of mourning, the Jewish community exemplifies strength in solidarity, embodying the belief that kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh – all of Israel is responsible for one another.  

  

Hannah Baumal: On Shalom: Oseh Shalom is an ancient prayer for peace.  In English it translates to ‘may the one who created peace in the heavens bring peace to us and all of Israel’.  I enjoy singing this prayer.  The message is clear and simple, and the words are easy to recite.    

  

Oseh shalom is used as an ending sentence in many prayers, including the birkat hamazon, kaddish, and the amidah. It comes from the book of Job, a part of Ketuvim in the Tanach.   

In this book, Job is a righteous and wealthy man who ends up having many bad things happen to him, including losing his children and his money. He goes to the wisest people in his village to try to find out why bad things keep happening to him. Job’s faith in God never stops, even though he has so much misfortune. His determination and strength even during hard times is a good example of striving for peace and harmony, and always trying to be understanding.   

  

Singing Oseh Shalom all together as a community is a reminder that especially in our world where there is so much conflict, we are all responsible to try our best to find and make peace wherever we can, in our relationships, in our community, in the world and even within ourselves to maintain our own inner peace.  
  

Lyla Weisstub: On Creation: Unknown, fascinating and completely unclear, creation is at the very core of the vast mysteries of humankind.  Ranging back to the times of pterodactyls and neanderthals, little has remained consistent aside from basic human necessities and behaviors.  But then there is another constant, which, like creation, is only somewhat answered, and that is humanity’s belief in a higher power.  It was first in the Bronze Age where Judaism was first known to be practiced and has prevailed, despite thousands of years’ worth of attempts to obliterate our religion altogether, through the faith of the Jewish people.    

We sit here today in a developed age in which almost all aspects of humanity have been altered since Before the Common Era.  However, it is astounding to consider that both mankind’s belief in a higher power, and Judaism have remained present until today.  These two broad concepts are undoubtedly linked and are two extensions of the unanswered concept of creation that have carried through, more than thousands of years later.    

So, what is the significance of all of this?  Creation, and the development of humankind is an obscurity with little-to-no concrete answers.  What is left of this existential concept is artefactual ways of life that left an impact on humankind and Judaism is a rare prevailing artifact.  It is a spectacular feat to be sitting here today, in a congregation of Jewish people who have chosen to carry forward an ever-changing and targeted practice.  What is ironic is I am preaching gratitude for the prevalence of faith, specifically Jewish faith, when it is being ripped from the hands of the people in Israel and has been for nearly a century.  But time has shown that our faith can lead us through times of inexplicable oppression.  It led Moses to split the Red Sea, it burned twenty-four hours worth of oil for eight days, it remained in the Jews while they were imprisoned in concentration camps, and it is crucial that now, more than ever, we stay true to the religion that has preserved the Jewish religion for over three thousand years.    

In conclusion, as I reflect on the idea of creation and its connection to the Jewish Religion, I am grateful for the conservation of Judaism and its rarity as an heirloom of creation.  Its conservation tonight would not be possible without the generous and faithful work of my confirmation leader Dana and Rabbi Kaye, Canter Rosen, Lisa and the rest of the Holy Blossom community that has guided me and taught me the essentiality of honoring the creation and conservation of the Jewish Religion.