In my Torah portion, Vayishlach, Jacob sends messengers to his brother Esau so Esau will visit and they can patch things up. They needed to fix things because many years before that, Jacob stole Esau’s blessing from their blind father who was also dying of old age. When Esau visits he forgives Jacob, but Jacob didn’t expect that because he thought Esau would still be angry.
My Torah portion’s main theme was about misunderstandings.
Misunderstandings like this happen all the time, both in the Torah and in real life. For example, one time I lost my orange Grand Canyon sweatshirt and so I thought my brother Sam took it. I thought this because he sometimes takes my iPod without asking and then downloads songs onto it that I don’t like, for example songs by Coldplay. I got really mad at him and so I yelled at him not to take my sweatshirt, but then it turned out it was actually on the floor of my closet the whole time. I said I was sorry, and Sam said it was okay and that he would stop taking my iPod. This is one example of misunderstandings outside of the Torah. This relates to my Torah portion because Sam forgave me, which is like how Esau forgave Jacob for stealing his inheritance.
Just like how me and Sam argue a lot, Israel and Palestine also fight a lot. Many people think it’s really important. On the other hand, war makes people starve or even die. In fact, 171,400 people died in wars this year, according to online. I was surprised and upset when I researched this large number. Because of this, Israel and Palestine should forgive each other and stop fighting.
But there are some people we should not always forgive, like the people who put down stray dogs and cats at the pound. Many stray dogs and cats get put down at the pound every year when their owners do not want them. This is very unfair and sad because animals should not be killed. That’s why for my Bat Mitzvah project, I baked vanilla cupcakes with sprinkles and had a bake sale on the bike path near my house to raise money for the animal shelter. I raised $37 to support ending animal cruelty, and I had fun along the way! When I was finished, my mom drove me to the animal shelter so I could give them the money. When we got there, the people working there were happy and said thank you. Because of this, I learned that helping my community is very exciting!
Finally, forgiving others for misunderstandings is important because forgiveness helps us get along with others. If forgiveness did not exist, Sam and I would have stayed mad at each other forever. Misunderstandings can happen, but the important thing is that we forgive each other, whether it’s a stolen sweatshirt or a stolen blessing. Today I am becoming a Jewish adult, and as an adult I will make sure to forgive people in the future.
To end my speech, I want to thank all the people who traveled to be here today, especially my cousins, who came all the way from Iowa, and my camp friends, who came all the way from New York. I can’t wait to be Upper Seniors together next year! I also want to thank my parents for driving me to Hebrew practice every week, and my brother for not bothering me that much when I was trying to learn my Torah portion. Also thank you to Rabbi Zimmelman. I also want to thank my dog, Rocky.
Shabbat Shalom.