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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/19455/full/19455/disabled-teen-gives-bat-mitzvah-teacher-lessons-in-faith/ <br /><br /> <b>Disabled teen gives bat mitzvah teacher lessons in faith</b> <br /> Friday, March 7, 2003 | by <p>HARRIET KESSLER </p> <br /><br /><p>CHERRY HILL, N.J.—Marga Hirsch cannot say who grew more, she or Elisheva.<br /><br /> As educational administrator for the Jewish Federation Department of Jewish Education, Hirsch works with many young people. But guiding young Elisheva on the path to becoming a bat mitzvah brought an unusual student-teacher relationship, especially satisfying to both.<br /><br /> "It was a challenge, but not laborious. It was creative. It was rewarding. It was…" Hirsch stopped to think for a moment. "It was filled with an incredible synergy," she said.<br /><br /> The pair first met in September 2001 at Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnewood, Pa. Sitting next to Elisheva in shul week after week, Hirsch felt for the teen because her cerebral palsy "trapped her in her wheelchair." Other children could get up and leave during the sometimes lengthy d'var Torah. Elisheva could not. Neither could she speak nor hold a book.<br /><br /> Hirsch's teacher's soul, her mother's soul, her Jewish soul was touched by Elisheva's visible commitment to her religion. To minimize the teen's frustration and maximize her pleasure in Judaism, Hirsch first adapted board books for Elisheva to look at during the d'var Torah, then she made a Hebrew-English siddur for her use on Shabbat at home.<br /><br /> The bond between Hirsch and Elisheva drew in the teen's younger sister and parents. Much had been shared by the time Hirsch was asked to prepare Elisheva for her bat mitzvah. Some memories:<br /><br /> *Giving her cards with the words of the song "Ein k'Eloheinu" printed out in large type, Hirsch sat Elisheva on her lap so she could follow the words with her finger. "Elisheva's smile lit up the entire sanctuary," her father said.<br /><br /> *When Elisheva and family visited Hirsch's home home during Chanukah, Hirsch gave Elisheva a simple yet special present—a dreidel with a spinner on its stem bolted to a piece of wood in a way that enabled the girl to spin it. It had pained Hirsch to see her young friend denied this simple Chanukah pleasure—playing dreidel—by her physical limitations.<br /><br /> When limitations cannot be eliminated, they must be surmounted, according to Hirsch. She says that all students have their limitations and that her own ability to work at the right pace for each student is part of her strength as an educator.<br /><br /> "I can help an individual by sensing that person's entry point, by knowing where to start," she said. She finds each student's skills. She tries to "keep it comfortable." She gives her students "permission to be different, even to do it wrong."<br /><br /> Bat mitzvah day for Elisheva was set for Dec. 30, 2002, when the Torah portion would be Vaera, the only Torah reading that includes her name. The pair began formal weekly bat mitzvah preparation the September before.<br /><br /> Hirsch worked before and after office hours and many Sundays making Elisheva's bat mitzvah siddur. For Elisheva to "speak" to the congregation, her prayers, her d'var Torah, her every word would have to be programmed into her "talker," the grid-like computer keyboard, using icons to represent words, that is her voice. Elisheva's mother spent hours at the computer entering the prayers.<br /><br /> On the bat mitzvah day, her outgoing nature—a love for people that draws them to her—coupled with her passion for prayer and study, helped Elisheva make herself, her parents and her teachers proud, according to Hirsch.<br /><br /> "Two things in Parshat Vaera are special for me," Elisheva said in her d'var Torah. One was that her name was in the Torah reading. The other, "that Moses feels worried because he cannot talk well. Too bad he didn't even have a talker like mine."<br /><br /> Elisheva's joy at her bat mitzvah, her family's pride, the congregation's delight in its extraordinary experience would have been enough reward for Hirsch. But it got better. Not having the name "Marga" programmed into her talker, Elisheva called her "synagogue teacher." About a month later, as a post-bat mitzvah gift, Elisheva's mother entered her beloved teacher's name.<br /><br /> "I am deeply moved by the icon sequence she chose: NAME-KNOW-GOD," said Hirsch. "I feel as I imagine someone might who has been initiated into a Native American tribe and given a tribal name that invokes a powerful aspect of their character or experience.''</p> <p> </p>

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