The Divar Torah comes after the Torah portion and serves as an interpretation for the Torah portion. In many ways, the Torah is very difficult to understand. Not all Temples make people do a Divar Torah for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah but my temple did. You can do a Divar Torah in any form whether it's a speech, a poem, a sculpture, a drawing, a cartoon, or a dance. I did a dance, which is very unusual. Most people choose to do a speech although they are encouraged to choose a less direct option.The Divar Torah is a person's opinion on their portion. There is not right or wrong answer to the meaning of a Torah portion.
Heather, who is studying for her Bat Mitzvah, which will take place on Saturday, May 26, 2001 chose to write a poem as her Divar Torah:
A Harlot's blood and soul once pure,
Are now nothing a worthless
She has betrayed her father, God Almighty,
For she is a Harlot
Playing with the affections of her lovers,
But still God will forgive her,
Her children disowned, and she cares not
about them,
For she is a Harlot, not caring for her young,
She cares not if they scream and fuss,
But still, God will forgive her
She cares not whether her lovers loved
her,
For she is a Harlot,
She only loved them for their fee,
But still God will forgive her,
She cares not about her God,
For she is a Harlot
And she has sinned God,
But still, God will forgive her,
For after all God's anger is gone,
God knows she will need God,
God will protect her,
and coax her to calmness,
Although she can never heal the broken
wound,
She will try,
For her guilt will writhe inside her,
And that will be punishment brought upon by herself,
God will always take in the needy,
No matter how many times they have sinned,
For God will always forgive her,
The birthplace of us all,
Israel