Max Livingston at Beth David Reform Congregation
Courtesy of Deborah Livingston
Yosef Vessal at Congregation Mikveh Israel
Photo by Jay Gorodetzer Photography
Attending virtual b’nai mitzvahs for his friends,
however, just didn’t feel the same.

“I feel like they’re not as engaging, because
you don’t celebrate as much,” he said. “People
do still send cards or gift s in the mail or drop
things off for each other.”
Max Livingston, who also attends Beth
David Reform, was so excited for his Feb. 6 bar
mitzvah that he awoke at 4:30 a.m. to put on
his suit.

His family opted to hold the bar mitzvah in
the synagogue itself. When it was time to head
over, he saw that his mother had arranged a
surprise limousine. Th at, he said, felt special.

“It’s only once in a blue moon you walk
outside your house and your mom’s like, ‘Limo
time!’” he said.

His two sets of grandparents, aunts and
uncles were spread out in the sanctuary, with
the rabbi and cantor attending on Zoom.

“At fi rst, my husband and I were very disap-
pointed about the clergy not being with us, but
ultimately, it ended up really allowing our son
to shine and really take over so many respon-
sibilities,” Deborah Livingston said. “Our son
blew us away with his ability to really run his
service.” Although Yosef Vessal attended many of his
friends’ Zoom ceremonies, he was not able to
host his own. He attends Congregation Mikveh
Israel, an Orthodox synagogue that does not
use Zoom on Shabbat.

Instead, he opted to have 20 family members
sit six feet apart with party favor masks
throughout the large sanctuary on Oct. 29.

“We also had rules. So not as many people
were standing up on the bimah at the same
time, only the rabbi, the person reading and the
person getting the aliyah,” Yosef said.

He’s the eldest of his generation in the family,
and he and his parents always imagined having
a huge party in honor of his bar mitzvah.

“We were planning, like, this giant thing,
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Elliott Bronner in front of his homemade ark
Courtesy of Jill Bronner
but I’m so grateful that I got to at least have
something in person,” he said.

For one teen whose celebration is coming
up on May 22, the pandemic has provided the
inspiration for a mitzvah project.

Jackson Calder of Huntingdon Valley started
igotvax with his cousin to support two causes
that have become urgent over the past year:
vaccine awareness and food insecurity.

“I was struggling for a little bit on fi nding
a project, because right now you’re limited in
terms of what you can do,” Jackson said. “So I
tried to come up with something that we could
do virtually, and still help out people just as
much as we would in person.”
Jackson knew he wanted to do whatever he
could to support the vaccine rollout. He has an
immunocompromised grandmother he wants
to hug in person again, and he said he knows
many people who have contracted the virus
and died.

He is selling wristbands that read #igotvax to
those who have received doses of a COVID-19
vaccine and asking them to post about their
experiences on social media to encourage others
to get the shot. Th e bands cost $5, and proceeds
are donated to World Central Kitchen, which
provides meals to people facing food insecurity
due to the pandemic.

For the ceremony itself, Jackson is working
with a traveling rabbi to study his Torah
portion. He hopes to have a small gathering
of friends and close family members in his
backyard. Plans will depend on the progress of
the pandemic and the vaccine rollout.

“We’re doing whatever we can to really make
it as fun as possible,” he said. ❤
Wristband from Jackson Calder’s mitzvah project
Courtesy of Stephen Calder
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