We’ve just spent the holidays of Succot and Simchas Torah with the Jewish community of Moldova – a trip that was packed with powerful moments! I was even more aware of treasuring these moments because I’d brought with me The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.
The book asks why we would leave our most meaningful and memorable moments to chance events when we can do more – we can consciously and intentionally create them! With this impetus, we decided to celebrate our daughter’s bas mitzvah and share this milestone event with the young girls of Kishinev.
It was an opportunity to share the meaning, honor and responsibility of being a Jewish woman with all the girls in their bas mitzvah year as well as their moms. They say joy shared is joy doubled and this was certainly the case! It was incredibly rewarding to see the third generation of our family helping drive Moldova’s reJEWvenation.
My husband’s father Rabbi Zalman Abelsky obm and his mother Leah planted the seeds of Moldova’s Jewish revival, establishing and running Chabad for over 35 years. My husband Zushe Abelsky and I are involved in hashtagfundraising to ensure Moldova’s budding Jewish revival has all the resources to ensure its growth (including a brand new mikva coming soon!) My daughter and her husband are the community’s newest Chabad emissaries, helping the community blossom. And in sharing her bas mitzvah celebration – my daughter showed that ‘the apple doesn’t fall far’, continuing her grandparent’s legacy of care and love for every Jew, no matter where and no matter who!
By: Chaya Abelsky
