Mazel Tov Sezana & The Schwartz Family!

Sezana Haviva Schwartz, daughter to David and Suni Schwartz, and older sister to Adina, will be called to the Torah at Midbar Kodesh Temple this weekend. Sezana is the granddaughter of Sonny Schwartz, of blessed memory, Connie Schwartz, and Shahnaz Shahbazi. Shahnaz will join Sezana's Uncle Sierus in person for the rite of passage celebration. Sezana's Aunt Nasrin and Aunt Pauline will be attending by Zoom with Connie and other east coast family members. In studying for her Bat Mitzvah and in working towards her personal goals, Sezana says that "not everything works out, but it helps if you try your best."

Sezana is a 7th grader at a local middle school and for most of this year, has been attending classes on Zoom. Math, history, and band are among her favorite studies. College seems a long way off for Sezana, but she has been encouraged to find a course of study that she will truly enjoy when she makes the decision on her future.

As a Bat Mitzvah student, Sezana is a member of the David L. Simon Foundation Jr. Board. The class has been tasked with the responsibility of selecting a Tikkun Olam project. The foundation will provide a $1000.00 gift to donate to their project(s) of choice. Sezana says that "learning about Tikkun Olam and making choices on how to help build a better world is good and important."

For her mitzvah project, Sezana has selected to raise money to support the Wild Animal Sanctuary, a Colorado nonprofit that rescues and cares for captive great cats, bears, wolves, and other large carnivores that have been abused and exploited, and educates the public about the plight of captive wildlife. Sezana feels that through education, the public will become aware of the problems of the Captive Wildlife Crisis. She says that education is critical to changing social consciousness today. She has learned that America’s Captive Wildlife Crisis is the illicit exotic animal trade which is the third largest source of illegal profits in the world today, following the sale of illegal drugs and weapons. To learn more about the Wild Animal Sanctuary or to make a donation in support of the animals go to: https://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/