Mazal Tov Lily on your Bat Mitzvah!  And mazal tov to your parents, David and Melissa, to your sisters, Tove and Emma, to your grandmother Lee.  Lee, we are so happy that you now live at Evans Park, so close to our shul.  And mazal tov to your aunt and uncle, Jessica and John, and to your cousins, Hannah, Noah and Olivia.  This is not the day that any of us would have envisioned, but it is a deeply beautiful and meaningful Bat Mitzvah in its own way.

Which leads to the obvious question:  what is the meaning that we are supposed to make of the fact that your Bat Mitzvah Lily has coincided with a pandemic?  Years from now, you will be able to tell your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren that your Bat Mitzvah took place just when the world was contending with Covid-19.  What is the meaning we are to make, what is the meaning you are to make, of this fact?

Follow this link to view the sermon and watch the live streaming version on our website https://www.templeemanuel.com/rabbi/rabbi-wes-gardenswartz/your-finest-hour/