Hi, my name is Jake M. Gale and I am a seventh grader at Glenfield Middle School. I live in Montclair, New Jersey, and have an older brother named Noah. On October 17, 2015, I will have my Bar Mitzvah.
My Torah portion, Noach, is about Noah’s Ark. It is a very popular story. In it, we learn about the Great Flood that destroyed the Earth and how the Earth was repopulated. The parsha is the source of the United Nations symbol of a dove holding an olive branch. Noah first sent a raven, and then a dove, to scout for dry land, and the dove came back with an olive branch, showing that there was dry land. In my D’var Torah, I will discuss how we might have misunderstood the meaning of the raven.
In the time of Noah, people enslaved other people. Sadly, that still exists today. For my mitzvah project, I am raising money for Not For Sale. It is an organization to help stop child sex trafficking and modern slavery. I will planning a fundraiser in June to help get Romanian women out of the sex trade.
Our synagogue is the spiritual home of a warm and inviting community of Jews in and around Montclair, New Jersey. We welcome individuals, couples and families of diverse backgrounds and orientations. We observe an egalitarian, vibrant Judaism, balancing openness and traditional practice.
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