Like most young women, I was nervous for weeks before becoming a bat mitzvah. I studied the portion Beshalah, which tells the story of my namesake, Deborah. I wrote my speech and worried about logistics. It was January 1988.
Unlike most, however, I was fortunate to have three tutors: Rabbi Gordon Freeman of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek; my best friend Lois from my hometown of Wilmington, Del.; and my significant other Michael, who remembered his Hebrew from becoming a bar mitzvah 33 years earlier in Philadelphia.
When the day arrived for me to receive the priestly blessing, I was 39-1/2. It was a happy simcha, a celebration filled with love and learning. On Thanksgiving Day, Michael asked the question, “When shall we get married?” I replied, “How about Christmas Eve?”
In one exciting month, we organized the service and flew in relatives and friends.
At the ceremony, the rabbi spoke of this wedding being a first for him. He had never before led the services for someone becoming a bat mitzvah and bride in the same year!
Ten years later, Michael and I enjoy each day with many blessings and much love. We have woven a strong spiritual element into our marriage from the initial threads of these marvelous simchas.