Personal Narrative: My Bar Mitzvah

My Bar Mitzvah was on October 13, 2012, at Germantown Jewish Centre. In the months leading up to the special day, the only thing that I focused on was making sure I was ready to lead the various parts of the service on that Saturday morning: the Shacharit blessings, the Torah service, my D’var Torah, etc. While I may have been fully prepared to chant all of the blessings and lead all of the songs, it did not really phase me at the time that simply standing up there and being easily seen by the congregation would be a task in and of itself. Not that it was a major burden in the end, but I needed a stool to stand on in order to be comfortably above the height of the podium table in the front of the sanctuary. I couldn’t really tell you if anyone in the congregation knew about the stool behind the podium, but I hoped to God that it was a secret between my family, the Rabbi, and the janitor who provided the stool. I could easily say that my height was a slight hindrance during my Bar Mitzvah, but why would I? I thought …show more content…
Today, it would be difficult to imagine who I would be without swimming; it has become such a major aspect of who I am. Even though I may have always been at a slight disadvantage because my arm span and leg length are smaller than that of my competition, I feel that I have established myself in the sport of swimming. It is a passion of mine that I have built up over years and years of dedication. I never have and never will let my height difference turn me away from the sport. It’s easy to quit something for reasons beyond one’s control, but in swimming, I have been able to improve my strength and mental capacity so that I can make up for the lost distance attributed to my height. So what if my 6’ 5” competition swims a 200 free with a 25-second split — I am still able to compete and rise up to his level in ways beyond physical