Nothing ever stays the same.

Everything changes,

Winds change direction, rivers change course.

Clouds change shape, caterpillars change form.

No one ever stays the same.

Everyone changes.

What we were and what we are

Give way to what we will be.

And there is no choice.

Except for how we choose to live.

Except for what we choose to become.

The question is not will we change

But how will we change.

Today is a day for change.

Today is a day for growth.

Today is the day I accept the responsibility

Of becoming a Bat  Mitzvah.

Today is the day I become a young Jewish woman.

A Prayer for the Future

May the time come soon when all humanity

will recognize that it is one family;

when love, understanding and friendship

will replace hatred, prejudice and discrimination;

when confidence and trust will replace fear and suspicion;

When freedom and justice will replace tyranny and oppression;

when nature will flourish in the light of peace;

when the trees will not wither because of our destruction;

When countries of the world will live side by side in peace;

when children will grow up in a world filled with love,

and God will look down on the world of humans and smile.