$1,000 = 1 Water Pump

In
my portion Va-eira, G-d summons Moses & Aaron, instructing them to
tell Pharaoh to free the Israelites from the land of Egypt. Moses and
Aaron told the Israelites of their plan, but they did not believe them.
Moses was eighty and Aaron was eighty-three when they requested Pharaoh
to let the Israelites free. G-d tells Aaron to cast his rod before
Pharaoh and it shall turn into a serpent to prove to Pharaoh that g-d is
almighty. Aaron does as G-d says, but Pharaoh gathers his magicians and
their rods imitated Aaron’s.This shows that Pharaoh was not convinced
that the power was god. Pharaoh doesn’t let the Israelites free. After
this repeats with blood and frogs, G-d finally creates a plague that the
magicians cannot mimic (the insects). Then Moses and Aaron plea to
Pharaoh and he says he will let them go, but then when God through Moses
& Aaron removed the plague, Pharaoh changes his mind and does not
free the Israelites. Pharaoh's betrayal of promise repeats
six times, and then my portion ends. If you want to hear what happens
next, come back next week. The next portion is when the Israelites
escape.

My
Torah portion relates to today because the plagues of the past are
similar to those we face today. For example, in the Torah G-d changes
all the water to blood so that the Egyptians cannot drink the water.
Today there are 884 million people that do not have access to clean and
safe water. This is because they cannot afford clean water so they
face sickness and death due to the unclean water. Poverty is a plague
of today. There are billions of unfortunate people in the world who
cannot provide basic necessities such as food and shelter for their
children and themselves. In the past Pharaoh was given the plagues
because he did not let the Israelites free ( he committed sins). One of
the reasons today that people do not have clean water is because of
governmental issues. For example, the United States has the ability to
help third world countries, but does not make it a priority. Also, some
third world countries will not accept help. There are certainly sins
here, but not by the people who are suffering.

I
went to an organization online’s (website) , that takes the plagues of
lack of clean water and poverty and collects funds to help provide
water pumps for those people in need.I want to collect and donate a
percentage of my bat mitzvah money to buy and establish a water pump for
wherever it is needed most. have created a webpage for you and all my
friends and family to visit and help as well.

I
think becoming a bat mitzvah means you have a relationship with god, or
that you have your theory about god. Now as a Jewish adult I believe
differently from when I was a child about god, I believe god gives us
resources and we use them. He does not make things happen. As an example
if I get an A on a test, it is because god gave me a working brain…but I
studied and worked hard to get the A. In the past I did know anything
or believe about g-d, I just thought he was there..


It is really important to me to become a bat mitzvah because
now I count as a member of the congregation. I am now responsible for
my own action and decisions. For example, this year I had a choice to go
to religious school on Sunday morning or Monday evenings. I chose
Monday evening because, I would not stay focused and alert as much on
Sundays (due to lack of not being able to sleep - in). An important
reason is that all of my cousins & my brother have all had a bar or
bat mitzvah, so now I get to join them at the “big kids” table (don’t
worry -- you’ll get there Noa & Julia).