Zeesy’s Bas Mitzvah
Back in May, when Chaim and I sat down to begin thinking
about Zeesy’s Bas Mitzvah, we wanted it to reflect who Zeesy
is. Zeesy is that girl who from an incredibly early age loved art,
coloring, painting; she has a creative soul that makes
everything around her more bright, more picturesque, more
vivid. So, we decided on Zeesy’s Garden as the theme for this
Simcha, to bring us all together to celebrate Zeesy’s
appreciation for the Garden of Life.
You see, Zeesy entered the world back in 2010. From day one
she was unique in her development, her cognition, her way of
learning. Yet, Zeesy, through incredible work and determination
has not only made lemonade out of lemons, but has shown us
that lemons are a beautiful, tasteful, mouthwatering fruit that
adds so much flavor and pleasure to the simplicity and
monotony of life. Zeesy doesn’t spend her days bemoaning her
lot in life, focusing on the fact that she may be different, quite
the contrary, she lives it up, celebrating each day, each
moment, each human interaction, each teacher, each
classmate, each life experience, as something positive,
inspiring, delightful, and upbeat.
Every flower in a garden is special. It grows in a unique style, it
is nurtured and watered according to its needs, its
colors are distinctive; each flower adds so much to the garden
of life. Years ago, we took Chaya and Zeesy to Butchart
Gardens in Victoria, on Vancouver Island. It was mind blowing.
So warm, so attractive, so colorful, it wasn’t world renowned
because all the flowers looked the same and were alike, what
made it special was the diversity of flowers, each embedded
with a G-d spark that made it stand out to be a gorgeous
creation in its own right.
Zeesy is the queen of our community garden because she lives
life with the attitude of appreciating each moment as a special
flower. Sure, she has her moments with siblings and friends,
not every day is easy and smooth sailing, but you got to see
Zeesy about 15 minutes after waking up each morning: She
thanks G-d for life, washes Negel Vasser, which is the
traditional purification of hands, she drinks her special
breakfast shake, gets her meds, and before you know it, she’s
bouncing toward the door to have another awesome day at
school. Today is music, today is library, today is therapy before
school with Hannah, today I have Hebrew learning with Zissel,
today I am going to have a call with Shana. She is a breath of
fresh air: she is a beacon of optimism and positivity.
Our dear Rebbe of blessed memory, even well into his ninth
decade, would stand each Sunday giving out dollars to
encourage charity and kindness. Some Sundays he would stand
for as long as eight hours without interruption. Once, an elderly
woman could not contain herself and burst out “Rebbe, How
do you do it How is it that you do not tire?”
The Rebbe smiled and replied: “Every soul is a diamond. Can
one grow tired of counting diamonds?”
Zeesy epitomizes this concept. Always seeing others as sparking
gems, with the most positive of outlooks. She sees everyone as
amazing and delightful.
I hope that when I grow up, I can be like Zeesy too 🙂
I wish Zeesy a hearty Mazal Tova and bless her
with all our Rebbe’s Brachos that G-d grant her all that her heart
desires to continue being blooming flower to our Bozeman community and way beyond.
May you have the inner strength to teach the world
that challenges aren’t an excuse for a lazy or boring life, but one
that inspires us to greater heights and to change the world for the better.
