Leo Ismay - Dvar Torah

Good morning everyone and thank you for being here with me today. My Torah portion is called Shoftim, which means Judges. It is in the book of Deuteronomy, which is the 5th and final book in the Torah. In this week’s Torah portion, the Israelites are about to cross into the promised land. Moses is giving them advice on how to build a society when they get there, because he cannot cross into the promised land with them.

The first paragraph of my Torah portion contains a very famous line, which is “Tzedek, tzetek tirdof” and means “Justice, justice shall you pursue”. This highlights one of the main themes of my Torah portion, which is justice. Today, I have chosen to focus on four examples of justice that mean something to me.

The first example is in sport. I am a goalkeeper for the Green Point football club and I really enjoy playing and watching soccer – especially when Liverpool is playing. Sometimes, even sport isn’t fair. For example, I’ve played in games where the ref makes unfair decisions and seems to have something against one of the teams. When the ref is biased, everyone gets frustrated and the game becomes unenjoyable. This has shown me how important it is to be fair and have a good set of rules.

Apartheid is a much more serious example of what happens when things are unfair. There was a lot of racism in South Africa at the time, and this caused a lot of suffering. We are supposed to be called the rainbow nation, but people are still separated and we don’t all have the same opportunities because of what happened during Apartheid. It makes me sad to see so many homeless people who can’t get a job or feed their families.

The third topic that I feel very strongly about is animal justice. Animals deserve just as much justice as we humans do. There are so many animals around the world that are being treated very badly, and I don’t think that it’s right to treat another living thing like that. This is why I chose to go to the Animal Anti-Cruelty League for my Barmitzvah mitzvah – because I feel bad that those animals are stuck in a cage all day and don’t get a lot of love. It felt really good to make a difference to their day, and I plan to go there once a month from now on.

My fourth and final example of justice is in court, where a judge has to make the right decision. If someone is being framed for a crime they didn’t commit, the judge must be able to tell the difference between what’s right and wrong. If they wrongly accuse someone who is innocent, that person could serve a punishment for something they never did, while the person who committed the crime would just get away with it.

Ever since I was little, I have felt strongly about right and wrong, and last year I won the head award at my school for integrity, leadership and fairness. These qualities have always been very important to me, and I know they will be even more important to me as I start this new chapter of my life.

Today, I am proud to celebrate my Barmitzvah, as I am turning 13 and becoming an adult. I am ready to take on more responsibility and help bring more justice into the world. I hope that this speech inspires you to do the same. Shabbat shalom.