Preparing to become a Bat Mitzvah, Warwick girl gives comfort to children with cancer

Warwick — Lexi Kantor loves math and playing piano. The eighth-grade honor student at Warwick Middle School also is a member of the school’s Odyssey of the Mind team. What Lexi is focusing on most these days, though, is her preparation to become a Bat Mitzvah on May 3. Part of that preparation is to perform a service that benefits the community. To Lexi, that choice was an easy one. Her mom had recently heard about an organization called ConKerr Cancer, which provides fun comfy pillowcases to kids with cancer. Started by Cindy Kerr, a mom looking to make her son, Ryan, more comfortable during his chemotherapy treatments, Kerr started making cool, colorful pillowcases for him. Nurses, other patients and their families began to notice the pillows. Soon, they were becoming just as excited as Ryan about seeing the next new pillowcase. Needless to say, Kerr began making pillowcases for the other children in the hospital and ConKerr Cancer was born. So, Lexi got at it. Her goal — to get the community to make pillowcases for sick children. She first approached her rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in the Village of Florida to get her approval for the project. With the rabbi’s blessing, Lexi created some flyers and posted them around town. She contacted friends and put an announcement in the temple’s monthly newsletter. Now, she is spreading the word through the local media to get even more people on board. “It’s a terrible thing, kids with cancer,” said Lexi. “If we can help them, make their days brighter, that’s what I want to do.” And don’t think you have to sew to participate. Lexi and her mom, Debbie, said there are directions on the organization’s Web site to make pillowcases without actually sewing. A young woman’s Bat Mitzvah is a big step. The words “bat mitzvah” translate to “daughter of commandment.” At this point in her life, a girl in the Jewish religion becomes obligated by God’s commandments as prescribed in the Torah. Lexi’s upcoming Bat Mitzvah is more than a ceremony to her and her mom. It’s more than the next achievement in her life. Lexi’s Bat Mitzvah is something she herself has chosen to do, according to her mom. “One of the things I’m so proud of is that Lexi is driving this,” said Debbie. “This is her choice. She has chosen to become a Bat Mitzvah.” And Lexi is also hoping that her project will continue even after her own Bat Mitzvah. “Lexi is hoping that someone younger will come along and take it on,” said Debbie. “She has three friends whose bat mitzvahs are coming in June, October and early next year. We’re hoping she will be starting something that carries on.” Besides performing the community project, another requirement of becoming a Bat Mitzvah is to learn the Hebrew language. As Debbie put it, “Hebrew is an extraordinarily difficult language to learn.” Lexi has been learning the language for the past five years. For the past few months, she has been tutored one-on-one with her rabbi. “It is quite intense,” said Debbie. “I bow to her. She took us through it. My life has been so enriched because she has chosen to do this.” To find out more Anyone wishing to donate a pillowcase to the ConKerr Cancer organization as part of Lexi’ Kantor’s project may contact her mother, Debbie Kantor, at lextor@optonline.net. The finished products may be dropped off at Temple Beth Shalom, 13 Roosevelt Ave. in Florida, between now and April 30. For ideas, instructions, and more information on ConKerr Cancer, log on to www.conkerrcancer.org. For pillowcase dimensions, sewing and non-sewing directions, click on ‘Events’ at the top of the home page; then, click on ‘pillowcase construction’ at the top right.