(“The Torah Team” posts share experiences which my husband and I have as we study with B’nai Mitzvah families and guide them in the preparation of D’vrei Torah.)
One of the special pleasures of studying with B’nai Mitzvah families is watching how each student makes a personal connection to his/her Torah Portion.
We’ve just completed the process with a student we’ll call Sarah (not her real name) whose Portion is Vayeitzei. Sarah discusses Jacob’s devotion to Rachel and his willingness to work 7 additional years for the privilege of marrying Rachel. Sarah then compares Jacob’s devotion to her own devotion to her pet bunny which she only received after “devoting” much time and effort to researching the details of rabbit care and rabbits’ needs and persuading her parents.
In her D’var Torah, Sarah exclaims, “Finally, after months of begging and research, they (her parents) agreed and I now have my little fuzzy bundle of joy!” If Sarah was so pleased by her bunny, we can only imagine how excited Jacob was when he had completed 7 more years of labor for Laban and could “officially” claim Rachel as his wife.
We told Sarah to expect the congregation to laugh! Vayeitzei and the pet bunny will always be a memorable part of Sarah’s Jewish learning.
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