A student uses the online library Sefaria to read Torah.

Courtesy of Sefaria
Technology Continued from Page 11
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MAZEL TOV!
His students have also used Trope
Trainer, software that offers full Torah
portion readings users can access on their
phones and other devices. It offers the full
text of the Torah, along with Haftarah and
audio recordings for blessings.

While comprehensive, TropeTrainer
doesn’t come cheap — the mobile app alone
costs $24.99, and the entire software package
can cost more than $100. For students and
parents seeking a less expensive option,
Rotenberg recommends Sefaria, a free
open-source online library of Jewish texts.

“We want to help younger people
overcome the sense of distance they may
feel toward the text,” said Sara Wolkenfeld,
director of education at Sefaria. “For the
teen and tween age, when there’s a lot of
pressure about the b’nei mitzvah, it makes
it less intimidating to know this informa-
tion is just a click away.”
According to Wolkenfeld, the first
results for internet searches for English
translations of the Talmud used to be
anti-Semitic websites. Sefaria’s co-founders,
Google alum Brett Lockspeiser and
bestselling author Joshua Foer, set out to
change that. Now, anyone with an internet
connection can access their library of texts
and commentary.

This includes students preparing for
their b’nei mitzvah. Sefaria users can use
the site or app to find their assigned Torah
portions in Hebrew and in English, choose
their favorite layouts, add and remove
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



vowels, create lists of helpful sources, consult a visual map of
connections between texts, and research commentary for inspira-
tion for their D’var Torah speeches.

“Text provides a starting point for a lot of people. They want
to know, ‘Does Judaism have anything to teach me about gun
violence? Food justice? Homelessness?’ They can use Sefaria to
search for these themes and be connected with relevant texts and
commentaries,” Wolkenfeld said. “People should be connected to
the richness of literary tradition, and Sefaria is designed to show
users that all of these texts are in conversation with each other.”
Wolkenfeld’s son, Noam, is a proficient Sefaria user who
recently celebrated his own bar mitzvah.

“He has very strong interests, so Sefaria was useful for clicking
through text and searching across themes,” Wolkenfeld explained.

“We also had a student whose whole family used Sefaria so
everyone could speak on texts during the Bat Mitzvah ceremony.”
Of course, the party following the ceremony also takes a lot
of preparation. Stephanie Fitzpatrick, talent director and emcee at
the event planning company EBE Talent, uses Google Drive and
Skype to communicate with clients.

“A lot of families are opting for meeting via FaceTime and Skype
— people have busy schedules, and that’s been very popular,” she
said. “And Google Drive has been a great way to update people in
real time and keep them in the loop.”
Fitzpatrick has worked at EBE Talent for 10 years and observed
the rise of technology in the party planning process. In addition to
organizational tools like FaceTime and Google Drive, the company
uses various apps and software for guests’ entertainment.

According to Fitzpatrick, gone are the days of being confined
to a photo booth for party snapshots. PartyPrint is a software and
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM app that allows people to take pictures with their phones and send
it to a printer so they can pick them up and take them home easily.

EBE Talent uses another popular photo-sharing feature,
Instapic, to create unique slideshows.

“If a guest uploads a picture on Instagram or Twitter with an
event hashtag, we can pull them directly from the web and create
a real-time slide show of the event,” Fitzpatrick explained. “This
is controlled by a real person, which is useful for filtering out any
inappropriate photos from kids.”
Changes in technology have also had a profound impact on
party music selection. People use Spotify and Apple Music to
create playlists for their events, and while you might still hear
some classics like “Y.M.C.A,” Fitzpatrick has noticed an increased
demand for songs from TikTok stars. These internet artists
are popular among kids who use the video-based social media
platform regularly, but less well-known to the general public.

“DJs have to do a lot of research because these songs are not
trending on charts, but all the kids know them and its part of their
social life,” she said.

And don’t forget about the party favors.

A quick scan of It’s My Mitzvah, an online personal shopping
service for b’nei mitzvah party planners, reveals the popularity of
customized headphones, ear pods, selfie sticks and phone cases
alongside the more traditional T-shirts, sweatpants and water
bottle favors.

“Some people think this technology is great, others can be
overwhelmed,” Fitzpatrick said. “Everyone’s different. But overall,
we do see more and more families embracing it.” ❤
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
MAZEL TOV!
MARCH 26, 2020
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