I rediscovered my father's siddur stashed away with my old school books last week, the little prayerbook he’d given me when I was a little girl. Still stuck inside the pages were pieces of ripped paper bookmarks, written in a nine-year-old’s handwriting.

The sections were marked "Bedtime Shema," "Blessings for Various Occasions," and "The 13 Principles of Faith."

Thinking back, I could understand my interest in reciting the Shema and the Blessings... but "Why was a nine-year-old marking off the "Principles of Faith?" I then realized how I’d forgotten how I’d sit alone in my room, reading and thinking...

"I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the Author and Guide of everything created, and that He alone has made, does make, and will make all things."

This nine-year-old obviously had something deep in her soul that transcended her childish level of understanding. So I started thinking back more about her, and her course in life.

Feeling deeply about G-d and existence, this little girl packed a lunch one day, put her father's siddur under her arm, and set off on a journey to experience her love for G-d in the world.

On her way she knocked on the first door she saw. The door opened and a big voice declared: "G-d? Don't be so naïve!"

She knocked on another door and a sarcastic voice said: "Why do you think so much about everything? Be just like everyone else!"

Instead of sharing her siddur’s light and joy, this is what she heard going from door to door:

"Why waste your time helping people? Who’d do anything for you?"

"It's a cold, cruel world. When will you grow up?"

"What's the matter, don't you want to be popular?"

But this one hurt her most: "If you eat that second piece of cake, you'll get fat, and none of the boys will like you."

Gee, the nine-year-old thought, someone won't like me because I ate a second piece of cake? She began to cry. As she cried, her father's siddur fell down. Assuming she wouldn't need it anymore, she put it away in a box in a far corner of her basement.

The nine-year-old grew up, excelled and became popular. She dressed like the girl magazines told her to, and always feared a second piece of cake.

She learned things that would make her successful in college. She went on to corporate America where she wore 3 -inch heels and three-piece business suits. She learned to give great handshakes, because only wimps have weak handshakes.

Meanwhile, her father's siddur sat in the basement gathering dust, its heart beating ever so faintly, whispering to no one in particular, "I believe with perfect faith, I believe..."

And the innocent nine-year-old went on to do awful things. She didn't know that they were bad, because she was just a little girl, and followed what everyone else was doing.

One day she fell to the bottom of a very deep hole. It was impossible to get out, and she wondered if anyone would ever find her.  But suddenly, a big hand reached down and helped her out of the hole.

The owner of the hand said in a gentle voice, "Aren't you Jewish?"

The girl didn't want to say yes, because she didn't know what that meant anymore. She never learned much about being Jewish. She just knew what she felt in her soul long ago, but that was too long ago, and besides, she didn't want to be naïve.

But the owner of the hand was persistent, and kind, and taught her the beauty of being Jewish. And it was not sarcastic or mean. It didn't even care if she was popular or not.

One night, the hand’s owner invited her to her first Shabbat meal. When the meal was over, she asked... "Could I please have a second piece of cake?"

And she then returned to the beginning of her journey and knocked on the first door she came to long ago and said to the voice who didn't believe in G-d, "I don't believe in you anymore."

And she knocked on all the other doors and told them that she wished them well, but she was going on her own way...which led her right back down into the dark corner of her own basement, where she soon found her father's siddur under the dust.

The siddur had waited for her all this time. She cleaned it off, and held it close to her heart.

She then opened her siddur and read:

"I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the Author and Guide of everything that has been created, and that He alone has made, does make, and will make all things."

...and "I believe with perfect faith in the coming of Moshiach, and though he tarry, I wait daily for his coming."