Where have all the mitzvah projects gone? As we’ve seen fewer projects highlighted in recent years, we wanted to spotlight the young adults putting the “mitzvah” in b’nai mitzvah. 

Stella Shapiro

United Hebrew Congregation, Crestwood Middle School
Mitzvah project: Making bracelets and raising money for Magen David Adom
Bat mitzvah: June 20, 2024

After cancelling plans to have a summer bat mitzvah this year in Israel, Stella pivoted to support Israel in this time of need. 

“Since I can’t have my bat mitzvah in Israel, I wanted to help out in some sort of way,” she said. “I researched different organizations in Israel I could donate to, and Magen David Adom seemed like the best choice.”

Stella sold a variety of handmade bracelets, each featuring the Israeli flag, peace signs and more. At $5 apiece, Stella quickly exceeded her goal.

“Originally, we wanted to sell a bracelet to represent each hostage, but we exceeded that and now we have sold over 500 bracelets,” she said. “My whole family helps, and we still have more to sell.”

Take a look around Jewish spaces in St. Louis, and you’ll likely see someone wearing one of her creations. The bracelets also  have gone beyond St. Louis.  

“We’ve sent bracelets to Texas, Washington, New York, Chicago and more, so these bracelets are all over the country now, which I think is really cool,” Stella said. 

You can purchase bracelets through Facebook or in the United Hebrew office. 

Landon and Brody Spielberg

United Hebrew, Parkway Central Middle School
Mitzvah project: Lasagna Love
B’nai mitzvah: May 18, 2024

For brothers Landon and Brody Spielberg, their mitzvah project was a family affair. 

“My family wanted us to do this project because it’s a generational thing,” Landon said. “My dad and my brother did mitzvah projects.”

Landon, 12, and his brother Brody, 13, decided on Lasagna Love, an organization that provides lasagnas to people in need. Their Aunt Barb volunteers for the organization. 

“My aunt asked if I wanted to make lasagnas with her, because I have a passion for baking, and my brother decided to join us, too,” Landon said.

Landon, who has a TikTok channel for his baking, enjoyed “being able to bake and help people at the same time.” 

Brody said, “It felt really good to make lasagnas for the people who need it. If they are struggling to get their own food, we can make it for them and bring it to them.”

Together with their aunts, grandma and parents, they baked once or twice a week for three months leading up to their b’nai mitzvah and would love to continue making lasagnas in the future.

Samantha Goldenberg

Congregation B’nai Amoona, Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School
Mitzvah project: St. Louis Diaper Bank focusing on period poverty
Bat mitzvah: Dec. 2, 2023

After a school trip to Jefferson City to learn about the process of passing a bill, Samantha was inspired to take on an issue facing women all over the world, including at home in St. Louis.

“In sixth grade, we worked on a bill to get passed with our local representatives, and I worked on a bill to provide free period products in all public and charter schools,” Samantha said. 

So when thinking about what she wanted to do for her mitzvah project, her mind kept going back to that experience. She and her mom ended up volunteering at the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank once a week for three hours at a time while her sister went to gymnastics, starting in spring 2023. 

They worked to fill up bags with feminine hygiene products for distribution to city libraries, where women in need could pick them up at no cost. 

“We became regulars there and were having competitions of how many bags we could fill,” said Jennifer Goldenberg, Samantha’s mom. 

B’nai Amoona supported the project, allowing Samantha to put a box in the building where people could donate products and money.

“It felt really good to help adults and teenagers get the products they need so they don’t have to miss work or school,” Samantha said. “It was really fun, and I want to go back sometime this summer to volunteer again.”

Isabella Bernier

Congregation Shaare Emeth, Parkway Central Middle School
Mitzvah project: Sweet Celebrations
Bat mitzvah: June 1, 2024

When Isabella found out how many kids don’t get to have birthday parties the way she and her friends do, she wanted to help give them the celebrations they deserved.  

Isabella started working with Sweet Celebrations, a nonprofit that helps give homeless children birthday parties, when she was in fourth grade. She decided to make the organization the focus of her bat mitzvah project. 

“My mom took me to one of the workshops with my sister, and we made birthday banners, centerpieces and banners for the birthday parties,” Isabella said. “It’s really cool because everything is customized to the specific child.” 

Last summer, Isabella and her sister held a bake sale and lemonade stand to raise money to buy birthday gifts for teenagers.

“(Sweet Celebrations) get the least amount of gifts for teens, so I wanted to focus on collecting gifts for them,” Isabella said. “We were able to get a lot with the money we collected.

“Over the years I’ve done around eight workshops, held two lemonade stands, one bake sale, two toy drives, and now I am doing a toy drive for summer birthday parties. This winter, we should be doing our third winter toy drive.”

Isabella’s mom, Jennifer Bernier, started bringing her daughters to volunteer with Sweet Celebrations at a young age and has been impressed with Isabella’s commitment over the years. 

“The way they’ve responded to the volunteering is better than I could have ever imagined,” Bernier said. “My daughters have always been the ones pushing and asking when we can do the next workshop. It started as a way to show them the world, and it’s turned into them doing this themselves.”