Shabbat Shalom Everyone,
It is an honour to be here at Woodside Park shul on this special Friday night service to mark my Bat mitzvah.
In the last few months, I have been learning about what it really means to become Bat mitzvah and I now feel ready to take on more of the responsibilities that are required of me.
I have started to think more deeply about the consequences of my actions, and this led me to get involved with the charities Gift and Yad Vashem, which I will talk about a bit later.
have also been studying this week’s Parasha – Korach, from the Book of BaMidbar. I would like to share a few words with you about what I have learnt.
Korach is a parasha focused on conflict and rebellion. This conflict is about power: Who will lead the Israelites?
Korach, an important member of the tribe of Levi, raised a rebellion against Moshe and Aaron after being refused the position of the Kohain Gadol.
Korach’s rebellion against Moshe is one of the greatest challenges faced during the Israelites’ forty years in the desert. Unfortunately, the topic of conflict and the mis-use of power is still relevant today – we haven’t seemed to have learned much in the last few thousand years.
Korach asks… כֻּלָּ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים וּבְתוֹכָ֖ם יְהֹוָ֑ה וּמַדּ֥וּעַ תִּֽתְנַשְּׂא֖וּ עַל־קְהַ֥ל יְהֹוָֽה…
“The entire congregation is holy, with G-d among them.
Why do you raise yourself up over the congregation of G-d?”
Korach and his followers challenged and Moshe did not know what to do. However, he was a good leader, and therefore was open to hearing criticism and complaints. He offered to discuss the situation with Korach. However, Korach refused. So, Moshe asked G-d what he should do. He proposed a test to see who G-d will choose.
Just then, the earth opened up and swallowed Korach, most of his family, and the families of his two biggest supporters – in total several hundred people. Soon afterwards, the 250 leaders were also consumed in a fire.
And it didn’t end there. The Jewish people rebelled against Moshe and a further 14,700 people died after G-d sent a fast spreading plague.
Coincidence? I don’t think so…
Unfortunately, Korach was not interested in speaking to Moshe or even listening to his offer and his silence led to great tragedy.
One of the biggest debates is whether Korach was acting out of greed for power or actually feeling that he deserves to be made Kohen Gadol.
After all, he only questioned why Moshe and Aaron needed to be the leaders? Jewish tradition believes in challenging and questioning. Why should he be swallowed alive into the earth for asking basic questions?
Korach’s problem was that he was a ’taker’. His motive was selfish, he had his own hidden agenda. He wanted the title “Kohen Gadol” for himself. And that was all.
And yet, he managed to gather so many supporters. How? I asked myself.
Rashi explains that Korach was able to do this because, as neighbours, these people spent a lot of time with each other and were negatively influenced. Gathering 250 followers was not such hard work for Korach.
This parasha has taught me that one should always be careful to not mix with the wrong crowd and not to just be a follower. It is difficult to see both sides when you are so negatively influenced by everyone around you.
As we have seen in the news recently and in many of today’s conflicts, it is difficult to solve a problem if both sides will not meet with each other and talk. Whilst there is no guarantee that talking will resolve the issue, it is almost certain that not speaking at all will make the problem worse. We see this in this week’s Parasha and also in the current Israeli- Palestinian conflict.
We often hear the words ‘it is the thought that counts’. But in fact it is not the thought that counts. It’s the action that counts.
Thinking about charity is not the same as giving charity. This led me to thinking about Tsedakah and how I can fulfil this mitzvah. I decided to participate in the organisation known as Yad Vashem.
Yad Vashem connects history and memory. I was twinned with a girl called Noemi Plattina, who was born in Hungary in 1937 on 13th June – so very close to my own birthday.
She was murdered in Auschwitz aged 7. She never had a chance to have a Bat mitzvah, so remembering her is a responsibility and has made me appreciate my life even more.
During my Batmitzvah studies, I looked in more detail at what my name Noa means, and discovered that Noa was an important character in the Torah also from the Book of BaMidbar. She was one of the five daughters of Zelephehad and played an important role in influencing a new law that allowed women to inherit property, which was a significant step for women’s rights in a society where men ruled. This made me very proud to share my name with a woman who believed in fighting for her rights.
You have probably all heard of the brave released hostage Noa Argamani. She is a young woman from Israel who became known around the world after she was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th. A video of her being taken away on a motorbike made many people very worried for her safety.
Thankfully, after 9 months, Noa was rescued by the IDF and brought back home. Since then, she has been speaking out to help the other hostages who are still being held, including addressing the UN Security Council. She wants the world to remember them and to do everything possible to bring them home too. For this, Noa has been included in the Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025.
Just like the Noa in the Torah, Noa Argamani is brave and strong, and she’s using her voice to stand up for what’s right.
This has made me feel even more connected to my name as the two Noa’s I have just mentioned spoke out for what they believed and this has inspired me to live up to my name and always fight for what is right.
Both these Noa’s, clearly have good leadership qualities and have become strong female role models of their time.
Korach, who believed he should have the same rights as Moshe, did not go about speaking up for what he believed in, in the same way as Noa in the Torah did and indeed Noa Argamani is still doing. He chose to bad mouth Moshe and find ways to put him down, in order to gain power, but in the end, this method only caused his own destruction.
Yesterday was the start of a new month – Rosh Chodesh Tammuz. Marking each new month in the Jewish calendar is important – a new beginning celebrates a new chapter.
For me, my new chapter is becoming Batmitzvah, a significant new beginning for me. Now that I am Batmitzvah I need to continuously follow the mitzvot and do my best to live a moral Jewish adult life.
I have really enjoyed my Batmitzvah studies and I hope to take the lessons I have learnt into my future as a Batmitzvah.
Shabbat Shalom
I would now like to say the Batmitzvah Prayer:
אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם הִנְנִי עוֹמֶדֶת בַּיּוֹם הַמְּיֻחָד הַזֶּה שֶׁל בַּת מִצְוָה שֶׁלִּי כְּדֵי לָתֵת שֶׁבַח וְהוֹדָיָה לְךָ עַל כֹּל הַבְּרָכוֹת שֶׁנָּתַתָּ לִי וּלְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת חַיַּי מֵהַיּוֹם לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כֹּל דִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָתְךָ בָּאַהֲבָה
Our father, behold, I stand before you on my Batmitzvah to thank you for all the blessings that you have given me. I promise you to devote myself, from this day forward, to my responsibilities.
I want to thank you for my loving parents, grandparents, family and friends and pray that the future will bring only good health, happiness and peace to us all, to the house of Israel and all mankind. Amen.