My grandfather never forgot that mountain. And now, neither will my precious son

A

fter raising six daughters, I thought I had plenty of experience making simchahs and marking milestones. Dresses, decor, divrei Torah… I had my routine.

But when our son’s bar mitzvah approached, I found myself in unfamiliar emotional territory.

I knew I wanted to speak to my son at a Shabbos seudah for our family, but how do you address a boy becoming a gadol? I’ve heard many bar mitzvah speeches over the years, but I had never written one myself.

This would be the only bar mitzvah speech I wrote for a child of mine, my one chance. I wanted the words to be right.

I wrote, deleted, rewrote. Nothing felt big enough, deep enough, personal enough. What did I truly want to give him? What message does a boy entering this new world of mitzvos need most?

And then Hashem handed me the answer.