As I celebrate my Bat Mitzvah, it makes me feel lucky and blessed that I can identify freely as a Jewish person
Marnie celebrated her Bat Mitzvah on
02 September 2023 at Hadley Wood Synagogue
For my Bat Mitzvah, I have been twinned with a young girl called Ginendel Kasher, who was one of the many victims of the Holocaust. I wondered if we were related because we share the same family name and we have roots in Poland where she was from.
She never made it to Bat Mitzvah age, she was tragically murdered when she was only 7 years old because she was Jewish. I am now the guardian of Ginendel’s memory. I have been learning about her, and I promise to remember her and light a candle every Yom HaShoah.
While so many innocent people were brutally murdered because of their beliefs, like Ginendel and her family, it is miraculous that some managed to flee or survived the horrors, thanks often to the brave actions of others.
As I celebrate my Bat Mitzvah, it makes me feel lucky and blessed that I can identify freely as a Jewish person: I go to a Jewish school everyday, we only eat Kosher food, we have Friday night dinner as a family every week and celebrate all the holidays. These are things we must not take for granted. Children like Ginendel Kasher did not have this freedom.