Mitzvah Mensch Sadie R. Brings Humor and Fun to Our Residents
Bat Mitzvah Date: November 12, 2022
Meet our latest Mitzvah Mensch, Sadie! Sadie’s Mitzvah project was all about learning responsibility and practicing leadership – all while making our residents smile. At 12 years old, Sadie is the youngest of three sisters. She watched both of her older sisters (age 15 and 18) have their Bat Mitzvahs and was excited for her turn to arrive.
Outside of school, Sadie is a very well-rounded young person with many talents and hobbies. She’s an avid athlete and started playing basketball in fourth grade. Standing tall at 5 ft 9”, Sadie plays a vital role on her school’s basketball team. They even made it to the State Championship last year! Outside of basketball, Sadie enjoys being creative with arts and crafts, likes to bake, and plays with her two cats, Milo and Cosmo. She even uses her painting skills to help with the set designs for school plays. The latest school play she helped out with was Willy Wonka Junior.
As a 7th grader, Sadie already advocates for what matters and gives what she can to important causes. In fact, Sadie and her mom were featured on CBS News when they attended a Black Lives Matter march in Chicago and were interviewed on National TV. Speaking of volunteering and good deeds, as a lifelong member of Anshe Emet Synagogue, Sadie volunteered to make latkes at last year’s Chanukah celebration, and she also sang in the congregation’s Purim Shpiel. Sadie actually learned about The Selfhelp Home at her synagogue through a program called Journey to Mitzvah (J2M):
“When The Selfhelp Home came to the J2M session, I thought “Oh this looks like a really nice place and I think this would be a good fit for me!’ So we reached out, made a plan and I’ve been visiting Selfhelp ever since.”
Mitzvah Mensch friends volunteering together: Sadie (on left) and Liv (on right)
Sadie began visiting The Selfhelp Home once a week for a little over an hour each time to play games and chat with the residents. Sadie proudly shares that she’s made many friends here. One of her favorite things to do with our residents is play Scrabble. Fun Fact: A love for Scrabble runs in the family. Sadie’s great-grandmother was actually quite the competitive Scrabble player! She wasn’t “professional” per say, but no one in their family had been able to beat her at her favorite game. Other than competing in intense board games, Sadie enjoys talking with our residents and making them laugh to brighten up their day.
“When I watched my sisters do their Mitzvah projects, I knew I wanted to do something with older people. When I visit where my grandma lives, I would see them playing games with the same people all the time. I thought it would be nice to visit Selfhelp and play games to give the residents someone new to talk to and play with. I now have regulars that I play with and I look forward to seeing them every week to catch up when I visit.”
Sadie shares more about the meaning of her Torah portion (the story of Vayeira) and how she connected it to her Mitzvah project:
“Abraham and God have a disagreement about his nephew, Lot. Lot has to leave the city of Sodom and not look back, but his wife looks back and turns into a pillar of salt. In my d’var Torah, I talked about how Abraham has to understand responsibility to ask God about saving Sodom. I connected it to how I have a lot of responsibilities at The Selfhelp Home. It was my responsibility to set up games, clean up, talk to residents and do what I can to make their day a little bit better. In the same way it was Abraham’s responsibility to lead the Jews, help his nephew Lot and do all he can for his community.”
She also explained what it means to her to become a Bat Mitzvah:
“Becoming a Bat Mitzvah means I am becoming a woman in the Jewish community, and with that comes the responsibility of leadership and community service.”
Rabbi Siegel’s remarks: “Sadie is the ultimate Mitzvah Mensch. She reflects the best of the values that she learned from her parents, in our Joseph and Belle Braun Religious School, and as an active participant in our Anshe Emet community.”
Mom and dad had a few words to share about their daughter: “We’re really proud of her, she’s been working incredibly hard. She’s been very dedicated to learning her Torah portion and has had a positive attitude the whole way through! We’re inspired by how much she’s truly enjoyed spending time at The Selfhelp Home. She’s shown real maturity and understanding with this responsibility.”
The theme of Sadie’s bat mitzvah celebration was “Sadie Under the Stars” that featured a lot of creative lighting and sparkling decorations. Mazel Tov, Sadie! Thank you for the kindness you’ve shown our residents.
We’re so grateful you chose our home for your project! Sadie and her friend (another Mitzvah Mensch) Liv have both continued to volunteer at Selfhelp together even after they each had their Bat Mitzvah – talk about a couple of real mensches!
Interested in becoming a Mitzvah Mensch at The Selfhelp Home?
Learn more about this volunteer program on our website!
