Chesed (kindness) is in fact one of the most important pillars of Judaism, so what better way to celebrate your Bat Mitzvah by doing Chesed and showing responsibility to members of our community who are in need. Here are some ideas that you can use your Bat Mitzvah to demonstrate the value of caring for others, and social responsibility (Tikkun Olam).
- Design your own invitations and photocopy them instead of having them printed. The money that you have saved on printing you can donate to one of your favorite causes.
- Prepare some sort of marathon or tournament with other Bat Mitzvah girls and donate sponsorship money to one of your favorite causes.
- Prepare a show with other bat mitzvah girls and perform it in a children’s ward or Old Age home
- Make a bat mitzvah drive to collect old toys, clothes, canned goods and deliver it to a worthy institution.
- Instead of a big party, celebrate your Bat Mitzvah with your family, and invite a few close friends to a creative night in which you make your own Havdalah set or other item of Judaica. Give some of the money you might have used for a big party to Tzedaka.
- Twin yourself with a girl that does not have the means to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah. For more on twinning check the AMIT, One Family and WFJSCH websites.
- Take on a Bat Mitzvah project in which you commit to spending a certain amount of hours volunteering with a child/school/kindergarten/family or soup kitchen that can use your help.
Repairing the world, one bandage at a time!
The Areyvut organization profiles Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah kids who made a difference. On their website you can read about Shira Kitay who is a student at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School in Jacksonville, FL.For her Bat Mitzvah project decided to donate band-aids to the Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, FL and Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel. Shira held a contest to design band-aids that would give children who are hospitalized hope, or at least a smile. She spent many hours preparing for this project and has used a portion of the money she received for her Bat Mitzvah to help put the program into action.