Notes

What is daat?
The maturity of awareness and understanding that makes a person responsible for his actions
Girls mature faster than boys that's why it is at 12 years old
Why is 13 considered a man?
It is the age at which his mind attains the state of daat.
At this age, he is bound by the ten commandments of the torah
He is responsible to God to fulfill his mission in life
Why a party?
We celebrate that we are a bat/bar mitzvah. We celebrate that we are now obligated to fulfill our responsibilities and mitzvot.
What lesson do we learn from Shimon and Levi about Bar/Bat Mitzvah?
Shimon and levi were 13 when they attacked the city because of the rape of their their sister. In the torah, they describe shimon and Levi as men. They were 13.
We learn that at the age of 13, we become a man
Dina was kidnapped and raped, the kidnapper wanted to marry her and the brothers told them to circumcise if they want to marry
On the 3rd day they killed all the men to save their sister
When we turn 13, we should do a little self sacrifice
Who is the boss? Hashem etc.....
Hashem.
Why don't we have any responsibilities before?
Because we don’t have the maturity before
Adulthood:
Don’t fool yourself
Don’t fool others
Don’t let other fool you
What book do we receive?
The torah
What is the difference between a jewish and lunar calendar?
The Jewish calendar is based on the moon, which has less days than the secular calendar. The secular calendar is based on the sun, which has 365 days in a year.


Why don't we take the minor commandments as seriously as the smaller ones?
Because we think they are less important

Why would the smaller mitzvot be more important than the big ones?
It depends on how much you give up to fulfill the mitzvot



Marriage and Divorce -AJ And Samanfa
Why should people marry?
Because each body has a half- soul, when two people marry, they create one soul and reach a state of completion
We have to be married to involve God in our lives to complete the cycle
What is the soul connection?
Everyone has a soul mate, you are destined to marry that person from day one
What are examples of marriage from the Torah?
Moses and Tziporah
Isaac and Rivka
Avraham and Sarah
Boaz and Ruth
Isaac and Rivka was the first official marriage
What are the 10 stages of the marriage ceremony and the reasons for traditions?
Reception is to honor the bride and groom (they are like a king and queen). They are fasting.It is like your persona yom kippur.
Veiling is when the bride is face is covered with a veil, (groom does this) we do this because Rebecca did it to Isaac. It shows that groom isn’t marrying person just for physical beauty
The Chuppah is symbolizing that our home will be open to guests, also symbolizes husband and wife coming together (under one canopy)
The Procession is when the groom and bride are escorted by married couples (usually parents) to feel like kings and queens AND bride circles groom seven times, building an invisible wall around him (7 represents regular daily life)
The Betrothal is giving the ring to the bride and uniting the groom with the bride (before that, wine is poured and special blessing is made)
The Ketubah is a marriage contract that shows the groom and bride will be committed to each other (legal dimension/connection to marriage)
Sheva Brachot are blessings to honor friends and relatives (souls connect- breaking glass is part of sheva brachot. It reminds us of the destruction of the second temple. The lesson that we learn from it, is if in the future something breaks, we should be understanding and know that everyone makes mistakes
Private Room is for the bride and groom to share private moments with each other, the reason is before a couple is married, they should spend time with each other alone.
Meal is the feast and gladdening them on their special day. Every jew should celebrate when there is a jewish wedding because it symbolizes the jewish people are continuing.
Grace after meals is when the groom and bride to drink wine and connect their life to wine. It is over wine because in order to make wine, we need to crush the grape. This is just like when
What are the life lessons from each of the steps?
Reception-
Learn to have more love for one another even when separated
treat the bride and groom like queen and king
They have to fast on the wedding day
Veiling-
Don't focus on the physical appearance, but also on the spiritual and personality
The groom covers a veil over the bride’s face
Isaac did this to Rivkah
The group does it himself because of the what happened with jacob and he married the wrong girl
Chuppah-
Our Chuppah should be open like Abraham’s tent which was open on all sides and open to everyone
We circle seven times, building invisible wall, only bride and groom are in this
Procession-
Yichud room: Reason: before marriage, the couple shouldn’t be alone in a locked room before marriage
Blessings over wine: Crush a good grape, and we get a perfect product (we might get crushing and challenging situations, but something good comes out of it)
Breaking glass: We should be happy we are married to a person who makes mistakes

Divorce:
Name of document: Get
What do we know about Get: Get causes souls to separate, it is called the Get because the letters that spell Get never naturally occur together in the Torah.
Divorce is like an amputation: It’s a worse case scenario, it is extremely painful, severing soul (or body part) in half
Divorce has to be done in front of beit Din, a court of experts
Aging and Death
The torah's perspective on aging:
Respect your elders
Why would we choose a young person over an old person?
Yet there physical strength has gone their mental strength increased
The Torah says that you have to be productive in all stages of life because without productivity you leave the world
Old people have more experience
Every second of life has value and we can’t take that away from a person
What happens when a person person passes away?
When a person dies, their soul leaves their body.
Value of Life-
Every life has value even at a person’s last moments because our soul belongs to hashem who gave us life.
Leading up to death
Shema Viduy- in moments leading up to death, people say the shema to say that g-d is a single entity and is a part of our lives ( to declare our faith in god.)
Teshuva- we say teshuva to repair the damage we have done to others and to gain more holiness
Leading up to the burial/what we should and shouldn’t do
Tahara- the purification process when the dead body is groomed and is immersed with water (mikveh). Water has nourishing properties and is very spiritual. We acknowledge the significance of the person;s life and dress them in white clothing.
Levaya- The accompaniment to the body’s resting place. By being there for the body, we provide comfort to the soul on its journey. Honoring a dead person is of the ultimate level of respect and kindness because you’re doing it for them and not asking for anything in return.
Keep guard of the body before it’s buried
Close the eyes and mouth of the deceased
Calling of close relatives and friends to ask forgiveness
Mirrors should be covered
No, eating, smoking, and drinking in the presence of the dead
Burial/respect/customs of mourning
The body should be returned to the earth
The body should be in a closed coffin to show respect for the dead because it’s
rude for them to be viewed in such an objective way. Also, it can disrupt people’s mourning process. People aren’t allowed to speak poorly about the person that has just passed away, despite being true.
Keriah- immediate family rips their clothing to show the sorrow for their dead loved ones
Kevurah- the coffin should be completely covered by jews
5 stages-
Before Shiva
Shiva
Shloshim
One year
Every year anniversary

Kaddish- praising God in the passed person’s merit and behalf