MazelTov: Jeremy Piven Becomes A Man — Again — On Trip to Israel
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Ari Feldman August 8, 2016
Jeremy Piven is a bar mitzvah boy — again. Last week, at a private ceremony overlooking the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Piven — star of “Entourage” and “Mr. Selfridge” — celebrated his second bar mitzvah, surrounded by his friends Omri Casspi and Amar’e Stoudemire. He posted a picture to his Instagram account, writing, “Today I became a man (again)”:
Piven told the Forward in 2006 that at his first bar mitzvah — when he was thirteen — he really looked the part.
“It was the best bar mitzvah ever,” he said. “I was like any other bar mitzvah boy. I had braces, a very chubby face, and a mullet. I thought I was more John Travolta does ‘Saturday Night Fever’ than Bar Mitzvah Boy. I was Bar Mitzvah Boy, that was for sure.”
At this latest bar mitzvah, at age 51, Piven received a new talit, or prayer shawl, said the blessings over the talit and the Torah and sang “Siman tov v’mazal tov” with Stoudemire and Casspi.
Casspi, a small forward for the Sacramento Kings, invited Piven to come to Israel with several other celebrities and basketball players, including fellow Kings player DeMarcus Cousins, poker champion Maria Ho and UFC star Georges St. Pierre. The Omri Casspi Foundation, which promotes youth basketball programs in Israel and helps boost Israel’s profile among celebrities and athletes, organized the trip.
Casspi’s guests flew in a private jet provided by Sheldon Adelson from Las Vegas to Tel Aviv. While in Israel, the group has taken a helicopter tour of the country, partied at a Tel Aviv night club and visited Yad Vashem.
Here’s an insta of the plane the group took to Israel.
While most of us can only hope for one bar or bat mitzvah in our life, we are happy for Piven that he can celebrate a second simcha, or happy occasion..
As a member of Piven’s own entourage said during the ceremony, “You’re killin’ it, Jer!”
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.
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