A Bar Mitzvah and Parshat Nitzavim: How One Young Man Chose to Stand | The Neshamah Institute

Ethan’s Torah portion was Nitzavim, and it could not have been a better fit.

In Nitzavim, Moses gathers every single member of the Israelite community and speaks to all of them at once: leaders and elders, men and women, children, strangers, woodchoppers and water-drawers. No one is left out. The message is that the covenant between the Jewish people and God belongs to every single person standing there, not just the powerful, not just the learned, not just the ready.

Ethan understood what Moses was saying. And then he applied it directly to himself.

“Moses says that living a Jewish life and keeping the commandments is important, and each and every one of us can do it because it’s within our reach. It is important to make the right choices and to choose to be kind, fair and generous. It means making decisions that bring light into the world.”

— Ethan, Bar Mitzvah dvar Torah

He went somewhere that takes real courage: he talked honestly about why people make bad choices. Peer pressure. Acting out of fear or anger instead of thinking clearly. Impulsivity. And then he told a story from his own life, about a classmate who made poor decisions at the end of seventh grade and the consequences that followed. He tried to steer his friend in a better direction. He didn’t pretend it was simple. He just said: we all have freedom of choice, and he tried to use his well.

That is not a rehearsed answer. That is a young person who has actually thought about what this Torah portion is asking of him.

“This Torah portion begins by saying ‘I am standing today,’ and that is what I am doing. Today, I am standing before my family and friends and I am ready to accept the responsibilities that come with being a Jewish adult. Like the Jewish people in the Torah portion, I am not standing alone. I am standing as a part of something bigger, our Jewish people.”

— Ethan

That closing is everything. Ethan didn’t just learn about Nitzavim. He became it.

What This Looks Like in Practice

What Ethan demonstrated on the bimah did not happen by accident. It happened because his preparation asked him, from the beginning, to go deeper than memorization.

At The Neshamah Institute, we measure readiness not by whether a student can chant their portion flawlessly, though Ethan did, but by whether they can tell you what it is saying, why it matters to them personally, and how they intend to live differently because of it. Ethan could do all three. That is the whole point.

Mazel Tov, Ethan

You stood on the bimah and spoke the truth about who you are, what you believe, and what you are choosing. The Jewish people are stronger for having you standing in our midst.

Planning a Bar or Bat Mitzvah in Boca Raton or Palm Beach County?

The Neshamah Institute offers personalized Bar and Bat Mitzvah preparation for families throughout South Florida, with no membership required, no prior Hebrew school necessary, and no judgments about where you are starting from.

We would be honored to speak with your family. Contact Rabbi Amy Rader at niboca.org/contact-us to begin the conversation.