Bas Mitzvah Was 2 Months Late

During the preparatory period of this year’s Young Shluchim Camp in sunny Florida, Mrs. Chanie Zucker from Key West, Florida contacted the camp director about her daughter Chaya who would be celebrating her becoming a bas mitvah, during the Shluchim Winter Camp.

Key West is the southernmost of a series of small islands off the south coast of Florida, connected to the mainland by many bridges. It’s close to five hours drive to the camp located in Lake Worth, Florida, and the local Jewish community is large enough to offer a daily Minyan and Hebrew School.

Chaya, her 11-year-old daughter, receives her Jewish education through the Nigri International Shluchim Online School. Each day, she sits down at her computer in the Chabad Center and logs into a virtual classroom with a live teacher and other girls from the East Coast educational track.

Her parents had held a Shabbos luncheon in her honor, with the community to celebrate her Bas Mitzvah. The Zucker family have been on shlichus in the Keys since 1995. The Community was excited to participate in this spechial occasion because they have watched Chaya grow throughout her childhood.

Chaya’s friends and classmates from all the world are very important to her, therefore a special effort was made to include these friends in a beautiful bas mitzvah gathering during the time of the Shluchim winter camp. Chaya joyfully went to e-mail invitations to all of her friends and classmates.

The camp staff, expecting a small get-together in the corner of the dining hall, found that the excitement quickly overturned such modest plans. All her classmates coordinated their flights, and Chaya was joined by eleven bunkmates for a Bas Mitzvah to remember!

All of the girls dressed up and took a special bus directly from the campsite to nearby Chabad of Davie, where they were met by Chaya’s extended family and community members who had gone well out of their way to join this special Simcha. The girls each decorated their very own princess cake decorations, posed for photo booth fun, and enjoyed the kind of camaraderie that can only come from knowing how special an event like this is for a Young Shlucha.

Everyone noted that, “you can feel the Simcha!” in how happy they were for their friend’s special celebration. The community members that joined were so impressed to see girls from all over the world with such a strong connection to one another. Despite having had so little face-to-face contact you can see their excitement and feeling of connection for Chayas Bas mitzvah.

The Young Shluchim Camp is a department of Chinuch Yaldei Hashluchim, a division of The Shluchim Office. Rabbi Don Yoel Levy, of OK Kosher Certification, is the main sponsor of the camp.