Putting the Mitzvah
in Bar Mitzvah
Rabbi Chanoch Yeres, director of the Deaf Programming
Division of International Young Israel Movement (IYIM), leads a
2013 Bar Mitzvah for 63 deaf and hard of hearing children.

Judy Lash Balint
E T U Judaica
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BY JUDY LASH BALINT
JNS.ORG IT’S 9:30 A.M. ON A SUNNY MONDAY
morning in the Jewish Quarter of
Jerusalem’s Old City. Two large groups of
revelers almost collide in the alley leading
to the main square.

Both groups are accompanied by a clar-
inetist and a drummer belting out tradition-
al “simcha” tunes. In the middle of each
gathering is a 13-year-old boy dancing with
beaming grandmas and uncles under small
chupot as they make their way under the
stone arches from the Western Wall.

It’s the Israeli version of the Bar Mitz-
vah extravaganza, and it’s repeated every
Monday and Thursday (days when the
Torah is read) throughout the year. Boys
from all over the country get called up to
the Torah for the first time at the Kotel,
and then get danced up the steps to the
Jewish Quarter and on to a lavish break-
fast spread at one of the many restaurants
or halls dotting the area.

But not every Bar or Bat Mitzvah-age
teen in Israel is fortunate enough to have
that kind of experience. For the tens of
thousands of youths from dysfunctional
families who are cared for in residential
facilities all over the Jewish state, it’s often
Diaspora Jews who make the difference
between having no Bar/Bat Mitzvah at all,
or having a meaningful transition into
Jewish responsibility.

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Zemira Ozarowski, coordinator of donor relations for AMIT,
a network of educational programs that serves 28,000 Israeli chil-
dren, is responsible for the twinning program that encourages
American Bar and Bat Mitzvah kids to share their celebration
with needy Israeli kids.

Some of the Americans come over with their families to take part
in the simcha they have sponsored, Ozarowski explains, while others
conduct fundraising projects at home and send over funds to help sup-
port AMIT’s efforts to inject joy into the lives of Israeli kids from dif-
ficult backgrounds. Part of the donation is designated for the Israeli
“twin” to receive a traditional gift of a siddur or tefillin.

Some lasting relationships have been forged, Ozarowski notes,
and the program was recently expanded to include twinning between
Israeli pre-teens from established Jerusalem neighborhoods and kids
in AMIT’s Beit Hayeled facility in Gilo.

In Netanya, the Beit Elazraki Children’s Home run by Emunah,
a prominent religious Israeli women’s movement with worldwide
supporters, hosts many Bar and Bat Mitzvah twinning events. Amer-
ican B’nai Mitzvot and their families have sponsored several major
projects at the home, which houses almost 300 children whose fam-
ilies cannot care for them.

Back in 2011, a group of budding musicians from Teaneck, N.J.,
raised more than $20,000 as their communal mitzvah project, which
funded new equipment for the music therapy program at Beit Elazra-
ki. Several times a year, American and British B’nai Mitzvot join
their peers at Beit Elazraki for a lively party that always features loud
music and a festive meal.

A popular B’nai Mitzvah activity for institutional groups as well as
individual families is a visit to the Yad Lashiryon Latrun Tank Museum
a few miles west of Jerusalem. Elisha Kramer, a U.S.-born graduate
student, spent part of his army service as a tour guide at the museum.

“Some weeks there would be two or three Bar Mitzvah groups every
day,” Kramer recalls.

“It’s a great place for kids to learn about the need for a strong Israel
and the legitimacy of fighting for Israel,” Kramer says of the outdoor
museum where more than 150 armored vehicles are on display, along
with a moving memorial complex dedicated to fallen Israeli soldiers.

Many B’nai Mitzvot want to take an active role in their celebra-
tion, and Jerusalem Scavenger Hunts provides creative opportunities
for learning and fun in and around Jerusalem. Founder and director
Tali Tarlow explains that Israeli kids can train to guide their friends
and family on a fun-filled, educational, thematic navigation through
the city as they engage with its history and figure out their place in
its future. The program is tailored to the interests of each child, who
works with one of the Scavenger Hunt professional guides and ed-
ucators to develop a presentation at one of the stations used in the
Hunt. “We believe a Bar or Bat Mitzvah should be a special occasion
and an opportunity for a meaningful experience,” says Tarlow, a
longtime informal educator who made aliyah from South Africa.

Any family that’s been part of the Package from Home Bar and
Bat Mitzvah Project would agree with that sentiment. Started by
American immigrant Barbara Silverman at the beginning of the
Second Intifada in 2000, the volunteer-run program prepares and
sends tens of thousands of care packages to Israeli soldiers, focusing
particularly on Lone Soldiers (soldiers without family in Israel)
and wounded soldiers. Bar and Bat Mitzvah students in the U.S.

can raise money for the project, and those visiting can take part
in the packaging and distribution of everything from warm cloth-
ing to toiletries to snacks. Each package includes letters of appre-
ciation for the soldiers, which kids are encouraged to write.

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