MAZEL TOV TO HENRY & THE CHODOCK FAMILY!

Henry is a 6th grader at a local middle school. He graduated from Midbar's Early Childhood Center and attended summer camp with the ECC. He has studied with MKT's Religious School since Kindergarten. As a student in Rabbi Tecktiel's B'nei Mitzvah class, he is part of the David L. Simon Foundation's Junior Board. With his classmates he will participate in selecting an organization that will receive a $1000 donation from the foundation. Henry is enrolled in a karate class with his mother. He uses Python to study coding and is into multiplayer X-Box games, such as Minecraft. He likes sharing funny memes with his friends and playing video games with his brother. In the future, he wants to study computer programming in college in order to develop computer games that incorporate stories, such as Undertale and The Stanley Parable. He also studies Japanese and has visited his cousins in Japan many times.

For his Mitzvah Project Henry has brought to the congregation's attention the plight of the children laboring and living in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Henry is supporting and raising money for The Good Shepherd International Foundation which provides education and new income opportunities to the children and parents working in the mines. They have built new classrooms for public elementary and secondary schools. They have transformed a former school building into a vocational center with training in farming, financial literacy, money savings and other income-generating activities. Additional activities include training in positive parenting, women's rights and conflict resolution. Henry strongly feels that "everyone deserves a chance to get an education." Henry is collecting funds for this project or checks can be made out and sent to Midbar Kodesh Temple and Henry will work with Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel to distribute to The Good Shepherd International Foundation

The pandemic has brought specific challenges to studying for and preparing for Henry's Bar Mitzvah but he and his family look forward to this special rite of passage. They feel that Midbar Kodesh Temple is their Jewish home base where Henry's Jewish identity has been nurtured. Henry is ready for the challenge.

Henry created a video to explain more about his Mitzvah Project.