Mazel Tov to Bayley and the Blitz Family!

Bayley Faryn Blitz, child of Debi and Brett Blitz and sibling to Bryce, will be called to the Torah in April. Bayley is an 8th grader at a local middle school and will share their b-mitzvah with grandparents Beverly and Barry Yarkon and Lois and Paul Krefsky, both from New York, and other family and friends from the east and west coasts.

Bayley sits in first chair clarinet in Advanced Band. They are a member of the National Junior Honor Society and Gender & Sexualities Alliance. Bayley takes honors classes, is on the "A Honor Roll" and has been "Student of the Month." Their favorite book series is "Six of Crows" and their favorite TV show is "The Owl House." Bayley has traveled to Mexico, Florida and Bryce and Zion Parks with their family and is looking forward to a very special Washington, DC/New York trip with their maternal grandparents. After 5 summers as a camper, Bayley will again become a CIT at a local day camp. Bayley would love to knit a sweater and write a book. They see themself involved in reading/writing/editing or teaching as a career.

Bayley is a MKT USYer and will be a summer resident camper at Alonim in California. They are a Junior Board Member of the David L. Simon Foundation. Each year, the B'nei Mitzvah Class works together to select a group project(s) to champion. The Simon Foundation provides a $1000 gift to the class and encourages the students to select several projects and advocate them to each other, ultimately selecting one or more to financially support. In this way the students learn how a philanthropic board of directors selects non-profit projects, hopefully taking the lessons learned into future advocacy projects.

Bayley's personal Mitzvah Project is in support of Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation which is an organization that funds bee research and conservation. They will share information about the importance of the organization's work and make a donation to help repair the world by keeping the endangered bee species alive and replenishing pollinators. Bayley says that another part of Tikkun Olam that is important to them is to promote kindness and well-being in the Jewish community. They share a quote from Dolly Parton...“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." Midbar Kodesh hopes the sun always shines on Bayley and that they will always be successful in helping to build a better world.