Celebrate your SECOND BMitzvah!

I don’t know about you, but I felt really inspired by the celebration that took place here on May 11.  We celebrated a Second Bar Mitzvah, otherwise known as the 70th anniversary of a Bar Mitzvah.  Steve & Linda Stein sent invitations to friends, family, and the entire congregation; arranged a beautiful kiddush lunch; and Steve relearned the maftir and haftarah readings he first chanted at age 13.  It was beautiful.

And I’ll tell you the part that inspired me the most.  It was Steve’s D’var Torah.  Steve shared that he was inspired to arrange this celebration two years earlier, when David Hirshfield noted that it was the 50th anniversary of his Bar Mitzvah!  Now, we all know and appreciate Steve’s oratory skills each Yom Kippur (this year will be Year 25!), but this was different.  Steve was able to teach Torah from an adult perspective, reflecting on his own journey as a Jewish adult and what being a part of a Jewish community has meant to him and his family.  While learning Torah from teenaged B’nei Mitzvah is meaningful, this was just so moving.

I have been so excited about this idea that I actually pulled up the list all of our congregants who will be reaching this milestone in the next couple of years—and we have a bunch!

And so I’m here to make you an offer:  I’m ready to schedule and help YOU plan for your BMitzvah anniversary.

Whether you celebrated at age 13, or later in life, or if you NEVER had a formal BMitzvah, we can schedule something.

Whether you are approaching the 70th anniversary, or the 50th or the 20th or anything in between, we can schedule something.

Whether you chant the haftarah and/or the Torah reading and/or lead the service or just have a straight-up Aliyah, we can schedule it.

With so much weighing us down in the world, we could really all use more to celebrate.  So why not YOU?

Call me. 😊

Rabbi Paskind