Bar Mitzvah of Sapphire (SaSa) Moshe Adizes

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On June 16, 2007 Dr. Ichak Adizes and his wife Nurit Adizes shared the joy with their friends and family as their youngest son Sapphire Moshe Adizes was called to the Torah as a BAR MITZVAH. The happy event took place at their home in Santa Barbara, California. To bring you closer to this event we offer you to read the emotional speech that was given in this occasion by Dr. Ichak Adizes, Sapphire’s father:

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Speech by Father:
Dear Guests, Friends, Family,
And my dear Sasa:
You are celebrating your bar mitzvah today.
Bar mitzvah is the Jewish celebration of a transition,
When a child acknowledges and accepts his responsibilities as an adult
And the adult community, in return, accepts him as part of their community.

We all know that this transformation is not an easy one for either
Us, Your parents Or for You, Our Child.

For You,
The taking on of responsibilities is a major personal transformation.
But, relax, son.
Many  of us do not actually make this transition for many, many years thereafter
If at all.

You, and you are not the only one, be sure of that,
trying to be an adult, have the  natural tendency to take authority
but  without its  corresponding responsibility
and this is where we, the parents, can get into trouble.

We are reluctant to release authority.
We fear that you will make the wrong decisions if allowed to use that authority,
And not take responsibility for the outcomes.

The result is that we both suffer,
You, Our  Son,
from  not  being allowed the freedom to unilaterally decide; and
We, The Parents
from observing that you are not yet taking full responsibilities for your actions.

Someone once told me how eagles behave
when the time comes for their young ones to leave the nest and fly.
The parent eagle starts filling the nest with sharp objects,
such as sharp pebbles and sticks.
The nest becomes very uncomfortable.
And the eaglets eventually have to fly out.

Someone told me another story:
There was once a mature caterpillar struggling to free himself of his cocoon
and be born as a butterfly.
A well-meaning person noticed the struggle
and tried to help the emerging butterfly.
He broke the cocoon
and let the butterfly out.

What a tragic mistake.

For if a butterfly is to have strong wings,
it needs to struggle to free itself of its cocoon.
If you do not allow it to struggle,
its wings will remain weak and it will never fly.
It dies.

The struggle, my son, that you are experiencing now –
as we, your parents, become tougher with you;
as we put sharp objects into your nest;
as we ask you to take on more and more responsibility;
and as you try to break away from the protective cocoon called childhood –
is a healthy struggle.
It will make you stronger.

Taking responsibility is a major transition,
which can happen only when you are strong.
Weak people do not and cannot take responsibility.
And the stronger you are,
the wider and more extensive will be the world
you will feel responsible for.

My wish and prayer is
that you will use your natural, born leadership talent
and feel responsible
For your actions, 
For your family and fellow friends
For the community and the world you live in,
And never ever forget ,    
For the Jewish people you belong to.
You are now the new link   
In a chain thousands of years long.

May your deeds bring pride
To you,
To the family, and
To the people you belong to.

God bless you, my Son.