“Cast your bread upon the water, and you will find it.”
Celebrating three Bar Mitzvahs and a Bat Mitzvah!
Thank G‑d, this Shabbos at Chabad of Sharon we will be celebrating a third consecutive Bar Mitzvah, followed next Shabbos by a Bat Mitzvah!
While in some large congregations this may not be a big deal, for our congregation this is truly remarkable. We thank Hashem for providing us with such wonderful occasions to celebrate. We pray for continued simchos only!
This past Shabbos we celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of Menachem Mendel Rothman.
Sometime in the early to mid-1980s a young boy named Paul, who was about 15 years old, joined the New England Hebrew Academy Lubavitz Yeshiva in Brookline. Paul has since become Dovid.
At the time, Dovid lived with his family in Randolph and got involved with Rabbi Ben-Zion Shaffer and the Y.I. of Randolph. Rabbi Shaffer also served as the Hebrew principal of the New England Hebrew Academy and he introduced Dovid to the Yeshiva.
Dovid was a shy, quiet, and soft-spoken boy with a keen, brilliant mind. He had very little background in Jewish studies, and he started from the bottom and quickly made his way to the top.
(On a side note, I remember how no one expected this quiet kid to be anything but studious. You can only imagine how jaws dropped seeing for the very first time how Dovid hit that baseball over the fence!)
Eventually, Dovid made it to the Drapkin Yeshivah Collage, Yeshivah Gedolah of Boston (school of higher learning) as an outstanding student! In those years Dovid spent all Shabbosim and Yomim Tovim at our home in Sharon and became part of our family.
After his marriage to his wife Yehudis and a short stint as a teacher with the Shluchim in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Rothmans moved back to Massachusetts and settled in Sharon. Both Rabbi Dovid and Yehudis Rothman have since dedicated their lives to education, teaching and nurturing the children.
For several years Rabbi Rothman also taught at the Chabad Day and High School of Sharon with distinction. Just a few weeks ago one of his former high school students shared with me that the material she remembers best is that which Rabbi Rothman taught her.
As we were celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of Menachem Mendel, son of Rabbi and Mrs. Rothman, my mind wandered and brought back many fond memories from some 25 years ago when I first met Mendel’s father, Rabbi Dovid Rothman. Rabbi Rothman was then just a few years older then the Bar Mitzvah boy now. As I watched Mendel reading each word so carefully, clearly pronouncing each syllable, he reminded me of his father's attention to detail and how he learned to daven and study Torah!
A thought came to mind: twenty-five years back, when we opened up our home and hearts to this young boy, we had no idea or expectations of anything in return. But, you see, the student who remembers everything Rabbi Rothman taught her is our very own daughter Mimi.
Thank you, Rabbi Rothman, for being a master and devoted teacher, and mazal tov to the entire Rothman family! May you have continued nachas from Mendel and the rest of the family!