Families Plan
B’nai Mitzvahs
in Israel
From left: Sara Jennings, Levon, Elijah, Harper and
Robert Ames
PHOTO PROVIDED
SELAH MAYA ZIGHELBOIM | JE STAFF
F rom her side of the mechitza at the Kotel, Shaindy Lindenberg
was able to get a good view of her son reading from the Torah.

In late July, her son Ilan had his Bar Mitzvah in Israel. They
had about 60 guests, mostly family and some friends. Their ceremony
took place early in the morning at the Kotel, then was followed by a
special breakfast and a Shabbat event the next day. The family spent
about a week in Israel in all, taking in the sights and history.

Planning a Bar or Bat Mitzvah in Israel can come with difficulties
planning one locally might not have. There’s the added need and cost
of flights to a foreign country, the challenge of finding housing and
picking venues, caterers and other vendors from abroad.

But Lindenberg felt the experience was worth it.

“Everything really just fell into place,” she said. “I am so happy,
and my husband and I are so thrilled that it all worked out, that
we were able to do the event in Israel. No regrets. We’ve been tell-
ing everyone how great it was. There’s always little things here and
there, but overall, when you look at the whole picture, that was the
perfect event. I wouldn’t have changed anything.”
One element that can ease planning a Bar or Bat Mitzvah in
Israel is having on-the-ground help. Lindenberg had family in
Israel who could help with logistics. Isabelle Tahar Miller, whose
son Uriel had his Bar Mitzvah in Israel in August, and Robert
Ames, whose son Elijah also had his Bar Mitzvah in August, had
help in Israel as well.

“It’s much more significant to do it in Israel,” Miller said. “Also,
because we have a lot of family in Israel, we don’t have much
people here in the United States that could have been attending.

These are the main reasons [we decided to have the Bar Mitzvah in
See Abroad, Page 24
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