Bat Mitzvah date: June 11, 2022
Parents: Liz and Michael Madden

There are many themes in my Torah portion, Beha’alotecha. Today, I choose to speak about when someone you love hurts you, you can never give up on them. This occurs in my Torah portion when Miriam (Moses’ sister) insults Moses and is punished with leprosy, a terrible skin disease. Despite Miriam’s actions, Moses did not ignore her or say “You hurt my feelings so I am going to leave you.” Instead, he supported Miriam during her illness. Moses did this because before he was born Pharaoh said that all baby boys must be placed into the Nile River. When Moses was born, his mother placed him in a basket on the river. Miriam hid in the bushes by the river and watched her baby brother to make sure he remained safe. Then, she picked him out of the river to keep him from drowning.

In relating this story to my life, I think of the two people that have always done so much for me, my parents. My parents will always protect, love and care for me and my sister. The past year has been very hard on my family, from the passing of my dad’s best friend, and one of our close friends, to my father’s injury, to my IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) diagnosis, and my grandfather’s passing. Despite these hardships, my parents were always here supporting me and my sister. Both my mom and my dad stuck by my side when I was going through the diagnoses of my IBD, so now it was my time to be there for them like they always have been there for me. After my father’s accident, I was always right next to him. Anything that he asked me to do I did and there were lots of things he asked me to do! With my grandfather’s passing, which was one of the hardest things for my mom to endure, I just tried to love her, to keep her happy and do anything that I could do to brighten her mood. My Torah portion reminded me that being there for my loved ones is so important. And while I know my parents and my sister will always support me, I learned this year that in difficult times it is my responsibility to love and support them as well.