Annie Poole Bat Mitzvah Speech

April 25, 2015

In my 4th grade class, I clearly remember forming a friendship with a

girl who had Down syndrome. Some days, I would see other students
exclude her because she was different.. I always tried my best to
include her into my community. When shed say, Come play with me!
or gave me a hug, I knew that this was her way of including me.
Through this valued friendship, I learned lessons about exclusion that I
am now connecting with my Torah portion.
This week, we have a double mitzvah of reading two different portions,
Tazria and Metzora. Although these portions fit right together, their
literal meanings are opposites. The word tazria means to conceive,
and the word metzora, refers to a disease called tzaraat, a sickness
closely linked to death. These two meanings about life and death, give
us an insight into how our lives are deeply affected by not only the
actions we take, but also the words that we form with our mouths.
In addition to these portions both being related to health and diseases,
it also demonstrates lessons about how our community includes and
excludes people based on who they are. The portions explain
purification rituals and diseases that are uncomfortable and private to
talk about. They make people squirm, and I will admit it grossed me
out a little bit. Ill try my best to not go into great detail, but to
emphasize the points we can take from them and show how it impacts
our everyday lives.
These two portions establish the boundaries about the system of tamei
and teumah purity and impurity rules about boundaries,
specifically inclusion and exclusion.
Tazria starts with a new beginning, a new life. It goes into laws of ritual
purity after childbirth. A woman is impure for a certain amount of days,
and she cant touch anything holy until her purification ritual has been
completed. She then has to give a sacrifice to be let back in. It then
goes into talking about diagnosing different skin diseases, and explain
rituals to become pure again.
In Metzora, it first discusses purity laws dealing with tzaraat, a skin
disease linked to leprosy. It shows how to get welcomed back into the
community with rituals after being impure.

Yet the message that we can take from this portion is not really about
when youre pure and impure. Its about how the actions you take and
the words you use, will affect the image people see of you, in the
image of God btzelem elohim. There are messages about a persons
devotion to God and their community. It also implies how gossip and
words can have negative consequences. How actions can result in
being sick, or an outsider. But it is how we as a community pick up
those pieces, forgive and forget, take care of the weak, and have a
strong, equal partnership with God.
So I urge you to think about how the words you articulate, and the
actions you take each and everyday affect your past, present, and
future.
I want you to try to think about what is right. What is morally right for
us as humans? Maybe it is giving strength to the weary. Helping
someone up when they fall. Giving extra support to someone who is
struggling, someone who is weak and sick. Maybe you dont have to
physically do something, you can use your words. The Torah
commentator and author, Rabbi A.Z. Friedman wrote, A person may
think, Of what importance are my words? A word has no substance,
neither can be seen or touched. It is true that words have no
substance and cannot be seen, but, like the wind, they can cause
entire worlds to crash. So I would like you to consider using the power
of words, and turn them into something good. Give someone a
compliment. Give a simple hello and smile to someone in the
hallways. Talk to someone if theyre having a bad day.
I think that people easily forget, especially in these days of technology,
how relationships form our world, and how they can make people feel
included and excluded. We often take our community for granted. We
only realize how valuable they are until we are excluded and separated
from them. This is why I want you to unplug from the noise of the world
a couple minutes everyday. Think about how you can make someones
day good or bad. The Israeli Torah commentator Nehama Leibowitz
said, the plague of tzaraat teaches us that society should take notice
of the first sign of misconduct, however small. Just the same disease
begins with hardly noticeable symptoms and can be stopped if
detected in time, so a moral disease in society can be prevented from
spreading if immediate steps are taken. Otherwise it will spread
throughout the community. Think of this as the plague of exclusion. So
dont be a plague in your community. Take care of others, dont gossip,
and stop a plague from being spread.
From an early age, I learned what it is like to start over. I didnt get a
disease, that forced me to be separated from my community, but I did

get a change of scenery. My family decided to pack up and move from

Seattle, Washington to Austin, Texas. Being 6 years old, I didnt know
much about the world. All I knew was that I left all my friends, and I
would have to make new ones. I didnt realize just yet the cruelty of
exclusion. Luckily my first day of school, many people made the extra
effort of including me, and I quickly made best friends that now join me
today.
A little less than 4 years later, I found out that we were packing up and
moving back to Seattle. I was going to have to leave my friends once
again, and re-enter a community. I didnt feel more pure or better
about myself like the people in the Torah, re-entering their community.
I felt more sad and confused. Once I started school, I was included
once again. It took me awhile to feel like I really belonged, but through
peoples extra efforts to talk to me and invite me to do things, I felt like
I belonged.
This is an example from the past where the meanings of my Torah
portion were brought to action. In the present, in 2015, Im trying to
apply its ideas through words and actions to impact my life.
For my mitzvah project, I volunteered with the Friendship Circle.
Friendship Circle creates friendships in the lives of children and teens
with special needs. Many of these kids may feel excluded in their
community. Through volunteering, I formed friendships with kids that
are part of our community.
Another mitzvah that I did was donating 10 inches of my hair to
Pantene Beautiful Lengths. This is an organization that takes donated
hair and makes them into wigs for cancer patients. I feel very lucky
that I was blessed with beautiful long hair, so I figured that I could use
it for good, and help other people. When my hair was chopped off, I
was a little scared, but I just remembered that I supported my
community and gave some strength to these very brave people.
Right now, I am also a Student Mentor at my middle school. Every day I
go into a classroom and help kids my age with special needs. I help
them primarily with social skills and work with them on their reading,
writing, and spelling. Every time I see them smile or laugh, it reassures
me that I am helping include them in our community.
I hope that in the future I will take my own advice to use my words and
actions for good. To continue thinking about how I will add to my
community, especially my Jewish one.

I would finally like to thank everyone who is a part of my community,

the people who showed me how I can make a difference in this world
through my words and actions.
Thank you to Rabbi Cohen who has helped guide me through this
journey. Thank you for helping me learn my Torah portions, haftarah,
and most importantly, understanding the true meaning of my Torah
portion.
Thank you to all the Rabbis and teachers who have helped me prepare
for this day.
Mommy, thanks for being the best role model I could have. You have
shown me how to be a strong, independent woman. You have
supported me through everything, and just remember that I will love
you forever.
Daddy, thanks for teaching me that I can be whoever I want to be.
Spending time with you is the best -- especially when we blast music
and have dance parties! I love you so much!
A special Todah Rabah thank you to my Bubbe. Thanks for driving me
to all my Hebrew lessons and soccer practices. Thank you for making
this day possible, I love you all the time.
Sophie, thank you for being not only my big sister, but also one of my
best friends. Thanks for letting me share all your clothes, most of the
time. I love all of our adventures and late night talks together. I love
you Soph.
Thank you to my family for coming out to celebrate with me - Kevin,
Grandma Barbara, Uncle Mitch, Aunt Christy, Kate, Jim & Linda, I love
you guys!
A special shout out to my friends from Austin -- Sydney, Alyssa, Bella,
Callie, and Kate. Thanks for coming up to Seattle to come celebrate! I
love and miss yall everyday!
Thank you to all my friends from Seattle, old and new, for making me
feel a part of this community.
Thanks to all of you for supporting me on this special day. I pray that
all of us, as a community, will give each other strength.
Something Awesome: I chose my Bat Mitzvah speech that I wrote as
my something awesome, and as the one entry on my portfolio that I

did outside of school. I chose my Bat Mitzvah speech because I

prepared for my Bat Mitzvah for 6 months, and the speech was written
at the end of my journey to become a Bat Mitzvah. I spent a lot of time
writing the speech and putting lots of deep, meaningful thoughts into
it. It makes me proud because I got up in front of a congregation of
around 200 people and shared it with them. The growth that I
demonstrated was that I learned how to write a meaningful speech,
and how to speak in front of a large audience. The feedback I received
was all positive, and everyone was very impressed and proud of me.
This is way I chose my speech as something awesome.