Ben Johannesson was one of four students of our Adas Emuno Religious School who took part in our Shavuot celebration and Confirmation ceremony this past May 18th (as noted in our last two posts, Preparing for Shavuot and Confirmation 2010).
And he was kind enough to share with us the Confirmation Speech he delivered that evening:
Confirmation Speech
Ben Johannesson
After wandering the desert for forty years Moses went to the top of mount Sinai and talked to G-d. G-d chose Moses and the Israelites to give the Ten Commandments to. G-d said to Moses, “For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be His own treasure, out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). G-d chose the Jewish people to follow the Ten Commandments and his word, he said, “(18) And today the LORD has affirmed that you are His special people as He promised you, that you are to keep all His commands, (19) that He will put you far above all the nations He has made in praise, fame, and glory, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God as He promised” (Deut. 26:18-19). The true meaning of “the chosen people” is not clearly determined, G-d left it for us. As it is for us to determine in our own personal way, it can have a different meaning to anyone who reads the words of G-d. Throughout Confirmation we have learned about Judaism, Israel, the Torah, and G-d and after being given all this knowledge it is up to us to determine what being chosen means. I would like to thank Jennifer and The Cantor for helping and teaching us through out our years here.
And here's another look at Ben, as he prepares for his Torah reading prior to the Shavuot service.
Congratulations to Ben Johannesson, and his family, from the entire Adas Emuno community!
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