Two for one for this parsha! Ki Tissa was also the occasion of the Bat Mitzvah of a sweet girl with Cerebral Palsy who attends our synagogue. I have known her since she was a little toddler crawling around using just her arms. I watched her gradually learn to use a walker, then crutches, then just one crutch, until now she is able to walk short distances unassisted. Her family has moved a bit further away, so I haven't seen as much of them in recent years except for Bat Mitzvah preparation.
Her Bat Mitzvah was incredibly well attended. She is well-loved in the congregation, as she has a very sweet, soft-spoken manner about her. She brought this to her reading of the parsha. Instead of focusing on the negativity, she saw each participant -- G*d, Moses and Aaron -- as giving and getting "another chance". Each one, in turn, refused to give up on the other. Thus she took from this low point in the story an uplifting message which she related to her own experience of not giving up, and having family and friends not give up on her. What a great message!
Isn't that just wonderful! It's always great to have a refreshing, positive view on a story we think we know.
ReplyDeleteHafoch bah, v'hafoch bah, v'hakol bah!
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