Light and Hope Raising the Barr Weekly Memo: Issue 471

As the temperatures plunge and the opaque skies appear interminably cloudy and grey here in Northeast Ohio, there is a bright spot in the days that lift our spirits and peels back that feeling of gloom. The days have begun to get longer, each day, a few more minutes and peaks of sun are breaking through the clouds. There’s a feeling of optimism and hope that creeps into the day and already has me looking ahead to warmer days.

In less than two months, our granddaughter, Dafna, will be observing a Jewish rite of passage as she becomes a bat mitzvah. It’s the obligation of each student of this age to create a “mitzvah,” a command to do something positive and to prove their readiness to become an adult and an integral part of making this world a better place.

She is partnering with Alvis House, a recovery center in Columbus, and is collecting personal items and arts and crafts to help families and those in recovery from substance abuse and free from incarceration to re-enter society. As Dafna said, “shelter and basic necessities make a house, but it’s the extra special things that someone may want, that makes it a home.”

My pride as her grandfather grows as I watch her taking on causes such as this, knowing how it touches her heart with the personal connection to our son, her uncle. If each person takes a step to do a good deed, a “mitzvah,” the darkness will be replaced with a beacon of light that can illuminate the world if we follow the lead of our youth. Together, we can make a difference.

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