Although the Bar Mitzvah of a Jewish man is typically an important event in his life, I consider mine especially significant.  From that day forward a Bar-Mitzvahed individual is held accountable for their own actions and thus is expected to wear a prayer shawl, or tallit, to services.  Many Jewish families keep and cherish these tallit, furthermore, they often pass them down as important heirlooms.  Not much is known about my family’s tallit before my father’s uncle, who was born in 1917, received this tallit from his father on the day of his Bar Mitzvah in 1930.  Then the tallit was passed to my father’s brother, who was Bar Mitzvahed in 1969.  Following my uncles adornment of the family tallit at his Bar Mitzvah, many other members of my family have worn this heirloom, including my cousins, my brothers, and event.  It is typical for the Bar Mitzvah to receive gifts from their family and friends, nevertheless, as I was not aware that our family had such an heirloom, I was not expecting the incredible gift I received.  Although I don’t know all the details of its origin, I do know that the effects of its cultural importance are tangible, most clearly in the mannerisms of the members of my family when they talk about it.  Their faces and voices always light up and I can see how much it means to them.  This tallit is a physical representation of the connection that we share with all those who are part of the Jewish community, and has a deep importance to our people.

– Lukas Rubinowitz

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more