May 19th, 2015 Posted in Upcoming Services | No Comments »
Meet Sophie Dee Hazzan Hollis
On Saturday, June 13, 2015 (26 Sivan, 5775) Sophie Hazzan Hollis will become the first individual Shir Libeynu bat mitzvah.* As well, 2014/15 was the launch year of our congregation’s b’nei mitzvah program and cohort, and Sophie is its first graduate.
Being a Shir Libeynu pioneer is nothing new to Sophie’s family. Her cousin Doran Hazzan Green was our congregation’s first bar mitzvah. At the time, he wrote that having a bar mitzvah is a great way to show others that no matter who you are or where you come from, you will always be included. Doran said that his cousin Sophie was considering becoming a bat mitzvah and he hoped she would see how much fun it was. Apparently she did: at Sophie’s urging her family joined Shir Libeynu in preparation for Sophie’s milestone.
Although Sophie and her family joined our shul quite recently, she said that becoming part of the Shir Libeynu community was one of her favourite things about preparing to become a bat mitzvah. Sophie would like to volunteer to work with our kids’ program to strengthen her involvement with the congregation after her simcha.
As part of the Shir Libeynu program’s learning component, taught by Marilyn Arkin and developed by Jonathan Silin, our five candidates made sandwiches for distribution to homeless people by Ve’ahavta (http://www.veahavta.org). They also took turns riding in the van, distributing food and warm clothing. While doing so on a cold February evening, Sophie had the opportunity to interact with many people who live on the streets, and she says she was struck by the differences between the ones she met. As part of her commitment to
Tikkun Olam, Sophie and her family are planning to decorate the tables at her evening party with centrepieces made up of items that will later be sent to the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). She hopes this will encourage her guests to donate to SickKids.
Sophie really enjoyed learning to read Hebrew and finding out more about another culture from her tutor, Nirit Gruber. The most challenging aspect has been pulling everything together, especially compiling the booklet that will be used at her bat mitzvah service. In this regard she had a helpful and calm guide in Rabbi Aviva, she now says, adding: “It was a relief working with a rabbi that I knew I liked.” She will be reading Parshat Shlach, in which a few brave people were sent into the land of Canaan to report back about what it was like. They returned with abundant fruit and descriptions of a land flowing with milk and honey, but also, to the terror of the inhabitants, a place populated by giants. Sophie thinks the parsha shows that the people were still mentally enslaved. They feared defeat and the prospect of enslavement again, and so were terrified to fight.
In Grade 8 at Glen Ames Public School, Sophie especially enjoys physical education and languages. She plays soccer and spends time reading, writing and watching “Netflix.”
Please join Sophie, her parents, Linda Hazzan and Jason Hollis, and her brother, Grady, on Saturday, June 13, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. at First Unitarian Congregation (175 St. Clair Avenue West @ Avenue Road).
We thank the Hollis/Hazzan family for sponsoring the Kiddish lunch that follows. All are welcome at both the service and the Kiddish, but please RSVP by May 27th if you wish to attend at the Kiddish, so that the family can prepare and plan. If you wish to send Sophie best wishes, click here.
-Sophie was interviewed by Eden Nameri
* A few years ago, several women in our congregation fulfilled a long-time dream and chanted Torah together. Also, many members have invited and involved the community in their children’s bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies that have been led by Rabbi Goldberg over the years.
