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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nRebecca chose to have an adult Bat Mitzvah as a public affirmation of her Jewish identiy. Although Rebecca’s father is Jewish, she was not brought up in the Jewish faith so did not have a Bat Mitzvah when she was young. She rediscovered her Jewish identity in her early adult life and joined the KLS community in 2018. After participating in a course of study and being actively involved in the community for a year, her Jewish status was confirmed at the Beit Din (Rabbinic Board of Liberal Judaism) in September 2019. She then started preparing for her Bat Mitzvah – which was initially planned for May 2020 and postponed until October 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. (Read more about Liberal Judaism’s position on equilineal descent here<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rebecca co-led the Shabbat morning service with Rabbi Ren\u00e9 Pfertzel. As she is one of the pianists in the community, this included accompanying the congregration for some of the songs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rebecca’s family and friends were in attendance – and some participated in the service by reading two poems – Everyone Sang by Siegried Sassoon <\/a>and Meditation before Reading the Torah by Marge Piercy. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rebecca’s chosen Torah portion was Behar – Leviticus 25.1 – 26.2. She ‘leyned’ (chanted) the first 13 verses from the scroll, having attended leyning classes given by Rabbi Ren\u00e9 in 2019 – 2020. She then invited her family and friends to the Bimah to take a look at the scoll, as some of them had never seen one before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During her D’var Torah, Rebecca explained that she had chosen her portion as it is the one she would have read had she had her Bat Mitzvah at the traditional age of 13. The portion has great resonance for her as it introduces the idea of the Jubilee Year which occurs once every 50 years. Had Rebecca had her Bat Mitzvah in May 2020 as originally intended, she explained, she would have just entered her own 50th year. Rebecca’s reflections focussed on the themes of freedom and the home – both concepts which are relevant to her portion – and also have been relevant to us all over the past 18 months. You can read her full D’var Torah here<\/a> or watch her deliver it here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/klsonline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/File_004-1024x735.jpeg\")
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