Beautiful silver plated Yad
(Torah pointer) with wrapped
images of Jerusalem twisted
around the yad in gold and silver.
What makes this Yad such a perfect Bar Mitzvah or Bat
Mitzvah gift? The bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah is an incredible experience,
the culmination of many pieces including: years of hard work learning
and studying, relationships with teachers, tutors and classmates, thinking
about the Torah portion and what it means, perhaps a social action project,
attending Shabbat services, attending religious school, and of course
things like guest lists, bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah invitations, the bar
mitzvah or bat mitzvah party, the photographer, the d.j. vs. band debate,
the caterer, cake, flowers and decorations, party favors, and gifts,
But, the truth be told, eventually all these fade away.
Few people remember what was served for lunch at the bar mitzvah or bat
mitzvah, what the centerpieces looked like, or which songs the band played.
They probably will even forget what the invitations looked like and what
they actually said or who gave then what gift.
What stays with the young man becoming a bar mitzvah or
young woman becoming a bat mitzvah? There is one defining moment of the
entire event. Reading from the Torah,
After years of learning Hebrew, months of learning to
read Hebrew without vowels and perhaps even mastering chanting the ancient
Hebrew words, the 13 year old stands at the bimah, flanked by the rabbi
and the cantor to finally read from the Torah for the first time in public.
He or she is officially “called” to the Torah
as a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah, leads the congregation in the blessing
and then with a strong “Amen” begins the weekly Torah reading.
It is this act, reading from the scroll, the Torah, which
defines the entire event. Reading from the Torah, the ancient teaching
that has been passed down from generation to generation, is what makes
a young man become a bar mitzvah (a son of the commandments) or a young
girl a bat mitzvah (a daughter of the commandment). The act of publicly
reading those words aloud for all to hear, for all to learn from and live
by, is the most profound part of the entire bar or bat mitzvah process.
And what does the bar or bat mitzvah use to read the Torah?
What does he or she hold in his or her hand at this most sacred moment?
A yad. A “Torah pointer.”
Why? The Torah is made from parchment (animal skin) and
is hand written with carefully prepared ink. It takes an entire year to
scribe a Torah scroll. Because of the delicate nature of the scroll, and
the many years we hope they will last, we do not touch the text with our
hands. The oil that naturally exists on our hands would harm the ink.
Rather, we hold a yad and the yad touches the scroll.
Yad is a Hebrew word meaning hand; The Torah pointer is
called a yad because at the very top of it is a little tiny hand. We hold
the yad in our hand, gently but firmly, and point to each word as we read.
