A Letter from a Mother…

A letter from a Bat Mitzvah mother

A letter from a Bat Mitzvah mother

Writing a speech for any occasion can be a major undertaking and a daunting task. When it comes to the preparation of a D’var Torah for a Bat Mitzvah, to be delivered by a twelve year old girl, in front of a packed synagogue, the challenge is even more profound.

A few months ago we celebrated our daughter, Chelsea’s Bat Mitzvah in Melbourne. Her D’var Torah was nothing short of outstanding, her delivery impeccable and all in all the Friday evening went off perfectly. We commend Chelsea for her work on the delivery and the incredible manner with which she spoke to and engaged the congregation, the Rabbi, family and friends, however, full tribute needs to go to Tali Tarlow from Your Jewish Speech.

In spite of the fact that both my husband and I have made many speeches, are adept speech makers and have written numerous good speeches, we believed that we really needed assistance with Chelsea’s D’var Torah. Neither my husband nor I are learned Jewish scholars and we wanted Chelsea to deliver a D’var Torah that really exemplified those things in which she has very strong beliefs, those aspects of life which are important to her and which represent the true essence of who she is. All of this needed to be enhanced by the appropriate Jewish messages, commentary and learnings.

Chelsea had discussed with us some of the key points which she wished to impart and some of the key messages from the Hebrew month of her Bat Mitzvah. Chelsea is a lively, energetic child who loves whatever she does and relishes every new opportunity which presents itself. Her D’var Torah had to reflect this love of life as well as encompass some humor, anecdotes and the simplicity of youth.

About a month prior to her Bat Mizvah, I searched the internet for speech writers who specialize in and could assist in the process of creating a D’var Torah. There was only one website, amongst the plethora professing to offer this service, which had any appeal for me. Your Jewish Speech “spoke to me”.  Just by reading the website and the manner in which it has been written, I instantly knew that this was the company we would select to help us with Chelsea’s Dvar Torah.

I emailed Tali – one of the partners and arranged to call her to have a discussion. My initial instincts were completely validated on speaking to Tali. We spoke about what we had in mind, some of our ideas and the underpinning theme and messages required. I described Chelsea and her interests and she even briefly spoke to Chelsea.

Tali immediately understood what it was that we were after. It was unbelievable – it was as if we had known her for years. She has an instinct and intuition that is remarkable and is able to translate this into a deep and innate understanding of the people for whom she is writing. She is incredibly incisive and hones right in to the pertinent issues whilst taking into account, at all times, the profile of her customer and their requirements.

We were completely bowled over with the first draft that came back from Tali. It was right on the nose – exactly what we wanted. The D’var Torah was a masterful blend of humor, anecdotes, depth of meaning, sophistication, simplicity and complete credibility that a twelve year old was able to understand it and deliver it. There were very few changes after this draft and we had the final version in no time.

After Chelsea’s delivery on the Friday evening, the Rabbi confessed to us that he had never, ever heard such a brilliant Dvar Torah from any child before. As already proud parents we were simply splitting with joy!

Not only is  Tali a brilliant writer of speeches and interpreter of client needs but she is a complete and utter pleasure to deal with. Nothing was ever too much trouble for her. No amount of emails to her (from me) ever proved to be a problem. She responded timeously and efficiently and always with complete courtesy and sensitivity to our needs, requirements and the emotive nature of such a speech and such a milestone.

We cannot thank Tali enough and just regret that we have no other imminent function for which we require her services.

We can only absolutely vouch for her service and ability and can assure you that if you want to ensure that  you have a brilliant speech appropriate for the occasion on hand you need look no further than Your Jewish Speech –  it will be the best decision you make for your function!