What We Pass Down

“I have the honor of sitting with the Rabbi,” Martin says as I find my seat at the reception to celebrate his granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah.

At times like this, I’m not just Brian.

I’m Rabbi Brian.

A stand-in for God, Judaism, and all religious persons they’ve met in the past.

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“We pass the Torah from generation to generation,” I explain to Martin, his daughter, and his granddaughter as we do blocking before the ceremony. “This is where each of you will stand for the passing of the Torah.”

In the ceremony, Tikvah will take her place as the newest inheritor of the wisdom of Judaism, receiving from her grandfather and then her mother the velvet-wrapped Torah scroll—a compilation of the first five biblical texts wound around two wooden rollers—the sine qua non symbol of Jewish learning.

It will be a poignant moment.

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I take my seat next to Martin, who—as though we had been discussing it previously—remarks, “Rabbi, you know what? They don’t teach kids cursive anymore.”

“No?”

“They should. It’s important.”

I tease, “You know, I never learned to use a slide rule.”

“I’m serious. Kids should know how to write and read cursive.”

I pick the bagel up from my plate and take a large bite, telegraphing that I, mouth-filled, am ready to listen.

He continues.

“Birthday cards need to be inscribed with cursive lettering. You just can’t convey how one really feels in block print. Block print should be used for the address only.”

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Rabbi Brian’s Perfect Bagel and Lox

• One sesame, poppy, or salt bagel
• Schmear of (plain, chive, or scallion) cream cheese
• Freshly cut tomato
• 2–4 pieces of thinly sliced smoked salmon
• One tablespoon of diced red onion
• One tablespoon of nonpareil capers

If the bagel is store-bought—not from a bakery—it should be toasted.

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A little about what you have to do to become a bat or bar mitzvah.

You don’t need to have a physical Torah passed to you.

You don’t have to wear a tallit (prayer shawl).

You don’t need to read from the Torah.

Just turn 13 and, ta-da, you are a bat or bar mitzvah—a Jewish adult. 

So if she didn’t need to do it, why did we have Tikvah read from the Torah?

Because only Jewish adults are permitted to read the Torah publicly.

Which, as of today, she officially is.

We also ask the newest link in the chain to interpret the meaning of that section of the Bible for us.

Which is super cool—to empower young folk as sanctioned interpreters of the Bible.

A groovy tradition—whether they can write in cursive or not.