Sam Horowitz Viral Bar Mitzvah Hits Small Screen

By Talia Lavin August 16, 2013

(JTA) — The Internet is crazy. That might be the main lesson of the overnight explosion of bar mitzvah dance star Sam Horowitz. The Texas teen’s dance routine has 431,877 YouTube views and counting.

Thanks to his sudden fame, the newly minted man appeared today on “Good Morning America” and showed off his dance moves on Broadway — well, in Times Square, anyway. Clad in a sparkly dance suit like a tiny Jewish Liberace, Horowitz showed his moves like Jagger surrounded by writhing backup dancers in black minidresses. Notably absent were the 20-foot letters spelling his name in neon lights. Maybe Broadway calls for more restraint than a Texas coming-of-age ceremony.

Angela Horowitz, Sam’s mother, appeared beside him, beaming. As well she should. Not every mom can boast that she made her son’s dream of descending from the ceiling in a giant chandelier come true.

Despite the fawning of GMA’s hosts, the YouTube comments trend toward the negative, calling the display everything from “vulgar” to a “shanda.” But Sam is pretty psyched. Every inch of his braces was showing in an ear-to-ear smile.

“It’s like a dream,” Sam told anchor Josh Elliott.

Indeed. Now when can the rest of us wake up?

Talia Lavin is a fact checker for the New Yorker and a Forward columnist writing about Jews in American politics.

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