Bat Mitzvah Project

Dori is making and selling her beaded jewelry to raise money for Breaking the Chain through Education. This NJ-based organization redeems child slaves in Ghana and helps support them and their families to have enough food and get an education, thereby working their way out of poverty.

Dori's goal is to raise $1,800 for BTCTE. You can read more about Dori's progress, and the organization, at her blog. If you would like to support her project, you can either buy her jewelry on Etsy or order jewelry directly through Dori by emailing her at dorijewelry (at) gmail (dot) com (yes, you need to add back in the dots and remove the spaces). She makes custom pieces as well at no additional cost, and ships too. They make great gifts for Mother's Day, teachers, yourself and anyone who likes jewelry. She makes necklaces, bracelets, earrings, eye glass chains and chip bag bracelets. She is very talented (I'm not just saying this because I'm her mother).

Some of the kids helped by BTCTE

If you would like to make a direct donation to the organization, you can do so here. There's no space on there to indicate it's for her Bat Mitzvah, though. It's a small, volunteer-run group, but it is a registered 501(c)(3) charity, and your donation is tax-deductible.

What is a Mitzvah project?
For those who wonder what a Mitzvah project is, let me explain. Not too long ago (you know, like when Mark and I were 13), you became a Bar or Bat Mitzvah when you turned 13, read from the Torah and helped lead the services. And that was it.

Well now educators and clergy want the process to be more meaningful to the kids. To think about something other than themselves in the process and try to do some good for someone else in the world. Oftentimes that means raising money for an organization or volunteering somewhere. But there's no one definition, and each child chooses to do something that hopefully is meaningful to them, and that allows them to make a difference in someone's life. We're very proud of what Dori has done.