Over the past two years, we have all had to face the most difficult challenge in which we sacrifice the way we lived our daily lives. Covid shut down not just our country but the entire world. An especially big challenge that all kids in the world went through was virtual learning. We all had the major responsibility of waking up, not to go anywhere, but to log onto a zoom meeting from our own bedrooms. During this time, I struggled a lot with motivation. Simple things like making my bed, or making breakfast was hard, and it was a struggle overcoming this setback. Although, I had a hard time, it made me feel better to know that thousands of other people were experiencing the same thing.  I realized that it was getting me absolutely nowhere if I kept letting Covid affect my happiness, and my daily life. In my Torah portion, Mishpatim, it talks about responsibilities, and laws that the Israelites had to follow.  This heavily related to me and still relates to me as we go through the pandemic. The responsibilities I had to make sure that I logged into school everyday, and that I kept up with physical activity, because sitting in your room all day might seem comfortable and relaxing at the time, but doing it for over a year isn’t ideal. As hard as it was to adapt, and to follow the laws that our government has ordered us to follow, it was very important and still continues to be important as we try to overcome this pandemic. I am proud that I do my part to try to keep everyone around me safe and healthy, and it means a lot that we are finally able to get together to celebrate me as a bat mitzvah.

For my mitzvah project, I incorporated two of the things I love most – animals and donations. Over the last few months I’ve been collecting supplies my local animal shelter has asked for. This couldn’t of been done without all of my family and friends that have helped out, and for that I thank them, even though most of them aren’t here. Animals have always been a huge part of my life, from growing up with dogs, to wanting to pet any animal I see in public, to crying in movies whenever any animal sadly dies. I can’t believe that there are things out there that are just so cute and cuddly. That’s probably how my family has ended up with four dogs which I love very much – especially my best friend Ella. I love you Ella. I love all my dogs equally-ish, and they have truly opened my eyes that even though they are cute, they aren’t the only ones, and some dogs just like them are without a family. That’s why I picked for my mitvah project to donate to the animal shelters.