Almost 13 years ago, I served as the Educational Director at Dor Jadash Community in Buenos Aires, Argentina. These were seven beautiful years of work that allowed me to grow in my profession and develop skills to fulfill the goal of consciously and actively connecting the community’s families with their Judaism.

In those years, I prepared almost 450 students for their B’nai Mitzvah ceremonies. But every time I was opening the Siddur, the prayer book, along with each new future Bar/Bat Mitzvah, I always had the same feeling: “They don’t appreciate what they have before their eyes.” Obviously, Hebrew was foreign to them, but also, there was nothing that emotionally connected them to that book.

After several days of analysis and thinking about what might work for these kids, I came up with a ritual in my head. I’ve always had a special interest in all types of rituals. Around the world, different cultures have known how to mark important moments in the life cycle through ceremonies that help them navigate difficult situations or celebrate joy with loved ones. And I thought this would be a good opportunity to embrace a ritual that would bring meaning to their lives and transform the siddur into a friend rather than an object. The Kabbalat Hasiddur ceremony could do just that and has been bringing smiles to families for almost ten years.

This year, I asked myself, why not bring the ceremony to Shaaray Tefila? Our fifth-grade students are going through puberty and are trying to celebrate their Judaism despite all the anti-Semitic predictions and newspaper stories. It’s a super important moment not only for them but for their families, knowing that their kids are no longer children and are gradually taking over all the values that their parents have so painstakingly passed on to them over the years.

Today is a very important day for our entire community. We read this week in the Torah about the construction of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. We’re talking about constantly being an active part of the construction of our house. We’re talking about playing a committed role and giving the best of each one of us every time our name is called.

That’s why we invite you all to tonight’s Kabbalat Hasiddur ceremony, to join the 5th and 6th grade students in leading the prayers and to witness their transformation as B’nai Mitzvah. To say “Hineni,” here I am.

Along with Rabbi Ross, Rabbi Sandy Zisser, Debra Belowich, and teachers Lauren Hollander and Ronnie Thompson, we look forward to seeing you tonight.

Shabbat Shalom!