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Baram Synagogue |
The appeal of travelling by car
to a place that for centuries
has drawn the most spiritual and eccentric
Jewish personalities enchants and intrigues.
Lately, as I think about what separates the men from the boys
in the context of bar mitzvah and
a boy's coming of age, I think of
tefilin.
I had always focused on belonging to a minyan [quorum],
being part of the Jewish men's network, and
being called
to the torah for an aliyah.
I had always focused on the feeling of membership within
the Jewish world.
For whatever reason, I've begun
to focus inward (on behalf of my son),
particularly when I think of Benjamin becoming
a bar mitzvah. What will change for him
not only as he contributes to society, but also
as he takes time for himself, as he
consciously prepares he prays
in the morning.
As Benjamin continues to learn how to read his
parsha [Torah portion],
we are focusing on how he can
take
an active part in making his set of tefilin.
Which brings us back to the beginning of my story
and the mention of Safed.
We are planning to host a
a trip to the city of
Safed during the week of
Chanukah. There Benjamin will complete the
writing
of his tefilin with a
sofer stam [scribe].
So that all our guests can get the feel of the scribe's work,
we will invite our guests to participate
in a scribe workshop - complete with pen, ink and parchment.
To mark the holiday of lights, we are considering
a second workshop - this time in candlemaking.
And to round off the adventure, we
plan to visit the ruins of the
Baraam synagogue
which dates from
the 3rd Century,
and is 10 minutes away from Safed.
These are initials thoughts. As our valued readers, your comments are
welcome.
Please
e-mail us.
To plan your child's rite of passage,
contact my
24/7 planners.
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