The recent holiday of Shavuot is one of our Shalosh Regalim - our three pilgrimage festivals, celebrating both agricultural and historical events. During these festivals we express gratitude for our abundance.
I am deeply grateful that I have gotten to know this year’s confirmation class. They are truly an extraordinary group. Each one is filled with compassion and generosity. They are bright and inquisitive while being fun and dedicated to our Jewish community. Traveling with most of them to New York City was a remarkable experience, and reading their personal statements brought me a great deal of hope for the future of Judaism.
Confirmation honors our students who have continued their studies well beyond their B’nai Mitzvah years. Confirmation is traditionally held during Shavuot because of the connection to receiving Torah: Shavuot celebrates the moment at Mt. Sinai when we received Torah. To commemorate this, we re-enact the revelation by eating dairy and studying together. Our tradition teaches that we all stood at Sinai together — all of us — no matter our gender, occupation, or even if we were yet to be born. We are all part of this sacred moment and this sacred covenant of receiving Torah.
During our confirmation service, all our students stood together not as individuals but as one community to receive this very Torah — just as we did 3,000 years ago.
Through their years of dedication to our community, these students have earned this moment of public recognition. The honor of standing before their community, in front of an open ark, and receiving Torah. The honor of having their picture hung in the hall of B’nai Jehudah so that they can show future generations this momentous milestone. They have studied, they have grappled with text and theology, they have volunteered in the Jewish community and in the broader Kansas City community.
They have traveled to New York as a class to learn about their Jewish heritage. They have bonded with one another, some even since preschool. They have taken on the responsibilities of Jewish adulthood and grown into the young adults we hoped for. They are ready to lead the Jewish people by carrying on these traditions l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation.
It was a privilege and an honor to stand alongside these students as we honored them for their studies and dedication to the Jewish people, and — together — become a part of 151 years of B’nai Jehudah history.
Mazel Tov to the 2022 Confirmation Class!
Rabbi Stephanie Kramer is Senior Rabbi at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.
