06/01/2026
Rabbi Schneider's remarks to the Bnei Mitzvah students at the passing of the Torah ceremony:
Chase, Zoe, Isaac, and Nomi - What makes this day unusual is that we are not standing in our synagogue in Scottsdale. We are standing here in Buenos Aires, thousands of miles from home, in the beautiful sanctuary of Templo Libertad.
And yet, that may be one of the most important lessons of this day.
Jewish life is not tied to a single building. It is not tied to a single city. It is not even tied to a single country. For thousands of years, Jews have carried Torah wherever they have gone. Across deserts and oceans, through celebrations and challenges, our people learned that holiness is something we bring with us.
This morning, you are now part of that story.
Your families could have chosen the familiar path. They could have celebrated at home, surrounded by everything they know. Instead, they chose something different. They chose an experience. They chose adventure. They chose to step outside their comfort zone and discover that the Jewish world is larger than the neighborhood where you live.
This week, you will explore a new country, hear a language you may be semi familiar with (but now with a different, cool, and interesting accent); meet new people, taste new foods, and discover a Jewish community that looks different from your own but is every bit as Jewish.
And look around. You are not taking this journey alone. The Weissbuchs and the Rosens chose to come with us as well. They are at a very different stage of life than you are. They have already traveled many roads, celebrated many milestones, and accumulated a lifetime of stories and wisdom. Yet they, too, chose adventure. They, too, chose to keep learning. They, too, chose to be part of this sacred journey.
Judaism teaches that we are a l'dor vador people—a people connected from generation to generation. Today, we are playing out this truth. Young people are just beginning their Jewish adulthood and older adults are still seeking new experiences, new connections, and new opportunities to grow. What a beautiful reminder that the Jewish journey does not end at thirteen. It lasts a lifetime.
That is a lesson many adults never learn.
As I pass the Torah from the Weissbuchs and the Rosens, to your parents, to you, I'm passing all that knowledge, all those values, all those teachings recorded and those ready to be discovered, and we are adding you as the next link in the chain of our Jewish Tradition.
There is one more reason why this moment feels especially powerful here in Buenos Aires. The Jewish community of Argentina carries a remarkable story of resilience. After the horrors of the Holocaust, many Jewish survivors came to this country seeking refuge, hoping to rebuild lives, families, and communities that had been shattered. They arrived carrying very little, but they carried what Jews have always carried: memory, tradition, and Torah. Here in Argentina, they built synagogues, schools, community centers, and Jewish homes so that the next generation would know who they were and where they came from.
As you are handed the Torah, you are participating in that same chain of transmission. The Torah you hold is the same Torah that sustained our ancestors through exile, persecution, and loss. It is the same Torah that survivors carried with them into an uncertain future. And it is the same Torah that parents, grandparents, teachers, and communities have entrusted to each new generation.
We live at a time when antisemitism once again reminds us that being Jewish cannot be taken for granted. Yet the Jewish response has never been fear alone. Our response has always been to teach, to gather, to celebrate, to learn, and to pass our tradition forward. Every time a young Jew stands before a Torah and says, "I am part of this story," it is an act of hope.
So today, standing here in Buenos Aires, surrounded by 3 generations of Jews, receiving the Torah from those who came before you, you become part of something much larger than yourselves. This is l'dor vador—from generation to generation. A people that refused to disappear. A story that continues to be written. And now, Chase, Zoe, Isaac, and Nomi, that story is yours to carry forward.
