Sydney and Emma: Learning to Listen on Shabbat Shuva

On a Shabbat morning in September, just steps from the ocean in Delray Beach, twin sisters Sydney and Emma became B’not Mitzvah, daughters of the commandments. Surrounded by the people who love them most, they led us in prayer, chanted from the Torah, and taught a lesson we all needed in the days before Yom Kippur.

From their first words of welcome, Sydney and Emma showed us what it means to share this day as twins. They chanted with confidence and joy, and when we reached L’dor Vador, they traded its chorus back and forth, finishing each other’s phrases the way only sisters can. 

Their Torah portion, Ha’azinu, means “Listen.” It is the song Moses sings in the last days of his life. Sydney and Emma asked a hard question: why wasn’t Moses allowed to enter the Land of Israel? Their answer was wise beyond their years. Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it, and leaders are held to a higher standard. But what made Moses great was that he took responsibility for his mistakes and kept growing.

I could not have planned a better teaching. This was Shabbat Shuva, the Shabbat of Return between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and here were two young women reminding us that teshuvah begins with owning our mistakes.

Family filled every moment. Jodi and Michael shared their parents’ kavanah and lifted and tied the Torah, and the girls’ grandparents offered a blessing. We remembered their Nanny, Isabel Goodman, before Kaddish.

In one of the most moving moments of the morning, the girls spoke about their Uncle Boris, who at just 12 years old hid alone in a forest in Poland and survived the Holocaust. They told us it is their responsibility to remember him and the six million.

Sydney and Emma, you listened, you learned, and you led. You showed us that becoming B’not Mitzvah is not about being perfect. It is about taking responsibility and growing, together. Mazel tov to you both, to Jodi and Michael, and to your whole family.

Is your family thinking about a Bar or Bat Mitzvah? Learn more about our B’nai Mitzvah program or book a free Welcome Call. Everything at Neshamah starts with a conversation.

With love and blessings,

Rabbi Amy