SAN DIEGO (SDJW)– For many youngsters the bar/bat mitzvah age is 13. However, for Ruth Goldschmiedova Sax, that was not possible. She was 13 when she was forcibly taken to a concentration camp by the Nazis. She would survive that one and two others before the Holocaust was over.
On Saturday, at age 90, Sax made up for lost time. She had a formal bat mitzvah at Ohr Shalom Synagogue in a sanctuary filled with friends, relatives, and other Holocaust survivors. For the occasion, Sax devised a set of 13 rules to live by. They are as follows:
1. What happened to me as a child could happen again if we ignore history. Read, communicate, understand, and ask questions; but be prepared for answers.
2. G-d created such a beautiful world, only some people make it so miserable. This is my quote and my gift to the world.
3. Speaking of the world, clean up after your mess. If you see something out of place, make a difference and pick it up. If you can’t use something, your trash could be someone’s treasure.
4. Love yourself. Be good to yourself. Don’t settle for less.
5. Take the time to enjoy the good things. You never know when they will happen again. So enjoy.
6. A part of me is still in the camps. I have left my sadness and my negativity behind. I know where it is and it is not here, not now. I am happy because of you in my synagogue.
7. Sometimes I don’t make sense. It’s okay, I am allowed this at 90 and guess what, you can do this at any age. Maybe today it doesn’t make sense but tomorrow it will.
8. Never give up on children. They are amazing and they deserve every chance in life.
9. Never go to bed mad. Chances are, had you made up before you went to bed, you would have an amazing morning and a rest of your life.
10. I will always have one enemy and that is time. Time goes by so fast and there is not enough of it. Treasure your time.
11. Be appreciative for what you have. Want what you have not have what you want. 2 words go a long way. Thank you.
12. Your best makeup is a smile.
13. Never Give up. Never give up hope. Hope is alive. We are alive and we are one. In the camps I said Shema daily. Just so you know, many others made fun of me while I prayed. I knew that my prayers would be answered; I just didn’t think it would take 5 years.
Sax, a Chula Vista resident, has been in the news quite a lot recently. She was a featured speaker on a crowded panel on art and the Holocaust at Comic-Con, was celebrated as a woman of valor at the Jewish Arts Festival,was granted an honorary degree by Southwesern College, was named a mother of the year by state Sen. Ben Hueso, is the subject of a biography by her daughter Sandra Scheller titled Try to Remember Never Forget, and will be the grand marshal at the upcoming Bonita Fest.
Completing her bat mitzvah talk with a smile, Sax told the Conservative congregation: “Thank you for sharing this day with me. I’m a big girl now.”
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Preceding based on information provided by the Sax/ Scheller family