Moussia's Bas Mitzvah



Wishing you a relaxing Shabbos.  There is nothing like the deep rest of Shabbos to revitalize a weary soul after a long hard week.  My wish for you is to experience this deep rest and get this rejuvenation.


Just a couple days before Shavuos, our daughter, Moussia, celebrated her Bas Mitzvah.


It’s the day when a “girl becomes a young woman” and we are so proud of her.


The theme of the Bas Mitzvah was “Yogati umatzasi Taamin”.


The Talmud says:

“If someone tells you they tried hard but did not succeed, don’t trust them.

If someone tells you they didn’t try but did succeed, don’t trust them.

If someone tells you they tried hard and they succeeded, trust them”


The Rebbe chose this wise and empowering passage from the Talmud as one of the 12 Torah Verses we drill into our children.  (I actually wrote a draft for a children’s book on them, which you can read here.)


Moussia personifies this particular verse.  


Some kids are just “naturally good” at lot’s of stuff.


And some kids have to work harder.


As a parent, it makes me super proud to see her work so hard.


In the beginning of the year, she thought Chumash (bible study) would be too hard, but she tried hard and figured it out.  She thought math was too hard, but she’s doing it.  She thought she couldn’t learn from a particular teacher, or deal with a particular classmate, and the list goes on.


But she’s working hard and succeeding.


We should all learn from her.


“If someone says I tried hard and succeeded, believe them”

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