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Bubbe's Belated Bat Mitzvah
By Isabel Pinson, Valeria Cis Kar-Ben Publishing
Copyright © 2014 Isabel Pinson
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4677-1949-0
CHAPTER 1
"How many kippot have you made?" I ask Bubbe, as she hands me a crochet hook. "I bet it's a gazillion. You've done them for every Bar and Bat Mitzvah and wedding in the family."
Usually I go home after soccer practice on Sundays, but today my mom dropped me of fat Bubbe's apartment. Bubbe is my great-grandmother, and she's teaching me to crochet.
"I've lost count," Bubbe answers, "but the first one I made was for my brother Charlie's Bar Mitzvah. He studied a whole year with the rabbi so he could read from the Torah. On Shabbat, when he finished reading his portion, everyone tossed candies at him to wish him a sweet life."
"Did you make kippot for your own Bat Mitzvah?" I ask.
"I didn't have a Bat Mitzvah, Naomi. When I was growing up, girls didn't study Hebrew and weren't called to the Torah. I was always sorry I missed that."
That night I think about everything Bubbe told me.
The next Sunday, Bubbe teaches me how to use different colored yarns for crocheting. "Did Grandma Rachel have a Bat Mitzvah?" I ask.
"When your grandma was growing up, girls still didn't read from the Torah, but for her Bat Mitzvah she was allowed to give a speech in the synagogue. She told the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. I remember every word. I was so proud of her."
"Bubbe, I think you should have a Bat Mitzvah," I say. "You'd be great!"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Bubbe's Belated Bat Mitzvah by Isabel Pinson, Valeria Cis. Copyright © 2014 Isabel Pinson. Excerpted by permission of Kar-Ben Publishing.
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