Queen Of The Castle: Adopted By Six The Musical

Chapter 31: Bat Mitzvah Ceremony (2)

"Elizabeth? Is that you?" My aunt Liana asked as I walked in.

"Aunt Liana? Auntie Madison?"

"LIZ! We're really sorry about what happened to you back in November." Auntie Madison said. "Now go kick some butt up there."

I walked up to the pulpit. "Liz! You look beautiful!" Cantor Michaels gushed.

"You ready?" Rabbi Cohen asked me.

"As I'll ever be." I sighed, my lesbian nerves acting up.

I took my place on the pulpit, the cast and my best friends in the front row. The piano started playing the opener. My favorite Jewish song, "Hinei Mah Tov" (The song basically means 'How good it is for brothers to be together) and my nerves settled. "Shabbat shalom, everyone." Rabbi Cohen said.

"Shabbat shalom." The congregation responded in unison.

"Today, Liz will be taking her place as an adult in our community. Not just as an almost-fourteen-year-old, but being old enough to follow our commandments, or Mitzvot. I would now like to invite up Liz's mother, Natalie Paris to present the prayer shawl, or Tallit."

Mom walked up to the pulpit. "Liz, after you told me you were Jewish, we bought this together, just the two of us. After I adopted you, I found the meaning behind it. Although I'm not Jewish, you're still my little Liz. The cast and I love you so much." (No, I was NOT making a reference to Natalie's song "I Owe You so Much" that came out in 2021. It's a good song.)

I took the tallit out of its bag and said the blessing for the first time. "Barukh atah...l'hitatef ba'tzitzit." I finished.

I wrapped it around myself and said the Shechecheyanu. Just like how I did when I saw the presents under the tree in December for my first Christmas. Then the main service began.

I started by reading a little meditation (in English) of course then I lead the call to prayer, led the Shema (TBH even though I'm Jewish, I don't know how to describe it in a secular concept. It's just declaring the oneness of G-d.) and then it was time for our most important service, the Amida (It comes from the root word of Omed which means stand). When I was studying for the service, this was probably the hardest for me. Especially the most important part of it, the Kedusha (When I was studying for mine, the melody of the Kedusha was the hardest. I had to learn so many new melodies lol).

Then that was over, and then it was my time to shine. I was going to read from Behar for the very first time in public! "For opening the ark, we would like to invite up Liz's biological aunts, Liana and Madison Abrams, and for carrying the Torah, we would like to invite Matt Paris, Liz's adoptive uncle." Cantor Michaels announced.

The piano started up the music, and since I didn't have many of my current family that was Jewish, we skipped passing down the Torah from generation to generation (At mine, I skipped that too because all of my family was from out of state. Since I had my bat mitzvah during COVID, we could only have a limited number of people in the space. My parents just asked for jewelry from each grandparent in my family for that purpose). I followed Aunt Liana, Auntie Madison and Uncle Matt during the hakafah (parade) then took my place on the pulpit as Aunt Liana and Uncle Matt unrolled the scroll. This was it.

I stood up straight, the pointer at the word I was starting at. "For the first aliyah, we would like to invite up Liz's grandparents...Liz will be reading from Behar on page 825 of your Etz Chayim commentaries." Rabbi Cohen explained as my palms began to sweat like crazy (At b'nai mitzvahs at my temple, the Torah reading has usually between 2 and 4 aliyot, but for mine, I had two because it was just my parents and me).

Mimi and Papa said the blessing and I started reading. "Vayidaber... el Moshe Behar Sinai l'emor...Chol t'vu'atah le'echol." I finished the first aliyah smoothly.

The next one was the entire SIX cast (excluding Mom, who would have the next aliyah). "Usfarta lach sheva shebabtot shanim...eesh al achzuto." Same as the first. "For the third aliyah, we would like to invite up Liz's mother, Natallie Paris."

Natalie read the blessing beautifully, just like her voice on "Heart of Stone". I read amazingly and after she read the blessing after the reading, she hugged me tight. "Knock 'em dead on the next one, kiddo!"

"Thanks Mom. Don't embarrass me please!"

Mom went down and took her seat, then the cantor started to chant my Hebrew name. "Ta'amod, ta'amod, ta'amod Yehudit Chana bat Shlomo Chayim v'Sarah Rachel, ha'bat mitzvah la'aliyah la'Torah."

My heart pounded in my chest. "Barchu...notein ha'Torah."

"Amen." The congregation responded.

I took a deep breath. "V'lo tanu...titanu la'aretz." I finished.

I then read the ending blessing, then Millie, Bailey, Acadia and Fiona wrapped the Torah, put it back in its ark, then it was time for my speech. "Now Liz will be giving her D'var Torah, also known as her speech on the Torah portion."

I took my speech out of the folder it was in. "Shabbat shalom everyone."

"Shabbat shalom."

"My Torah portion is called Behar. It literally means 'in the mountain'. Why is it called that? It's just a portion about the land and resting it. How does a mountain relate to harvest?"

I got a few chuckles, mainly from Mom, Aimie, Maiya and Grace. I continued on. "Well, it turns out that life is its own mountain: steep turns, not knowing what comes next and," I gazed to Mom and the cast, "For me, finding my true family.

"On November 29, 2018, my 'mountain' took its steepest incline when my parents kicked me out. I was supposed to go into my aunts' care, but they lived too far from London, and I didn't want to leave. Shoutout to Liana and Madison Abrams."

Liana and Madison giggled. "Then, at the steepest moment, I placed myself outside the Arts Theater, singing so I could get a room for the night. The incline ended when Natalie May Paris herself- yes, my mother- found me singing her song on the side of the road.

Mom and Aimie burst out laughing. "She took me in, and I became hers on Valentine's Day.

"Then that brings me to the next part of the Torah portion: resting the land. 'Why is land important?' I asked myself at the beginning of my tutoring sessions. Then through my eyes, I figured it out: you have to let it rest. If it doesn't rest, it weakens. That was me with not giving up and keeping myself together during that time. Through my 'harvest', I found some of the best friends I have made, shoutout to the cast and my BFFs!"

Millie, Bailey, Acadia and Fiona blushed. "We all have different experiences in our lives, different harvests. Someone who has lost a parent when they were babies may find it harder to have lost a parent when they're eleven. Steeper incline higher on their mountain. Throughout your inclines, I hope that you can figure out your past self and how that can impact you in the future. Shabbat shalom."

I got a round of applause. "Now, we'd like to invite up Natalie for a few words about our bat mitzvah lady."

Mom stepped up. "My Liz, my sweet Elizabeth, having been your mom for a few months, it feels like I've known you forever. Since I heard you sing 'Heart of Stone', I thought you were a professional street performer! When I stepped outside however, I saw a shy, timid thirteen-year-old girl, about to be soaked in the rain that was coming.

"And after you told me you had been kicked out that morning, I knew I had to do something: I wanted you to be mine so you wouldn't have to go through so many foster homes. Now I have my own daughter, my Liz, who grew from a shy girl to now a brave, courageous, sweet, fun-loving soul and friend to me and to my castmates. I am so lucky that you are mine, baby girl. Never let the streets fail you, as you have a place among the stars. I love you so much, and Mazel Tov."

Part two of the ceremony is in the next chapter. I am so sorry that the bat mitzvah ceremony chapters are a bit long.
Thanks for reading!