Susanna Groves, daughter of Betty Lerner of New York City, will become a bat mitzvah on Saturday at Adas Israel Congregation, where she studied with Rabbi Charles Feinberg and Naomi Malka. Joining in the simcha are relatives and friends from near and far, as well as classmates Lillian Shields, Marisa Goldstein and Yelena Lazdun.
Having been raised in a secular Jewish home, Susanna, age 28, is undergoing this sacred rite of passage in order to gain a deeper understanding of Judaism’s religious dimensions and to feel more wholly a part of the Jewish community. Susanna is a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute and a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Harvard Kennedy School. She and her beloved house plants reside in Dupont Circle.
Congratulations, from your father. I hope you learn reconciliation along with your new understandings. Dennis