Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of b’nai mitzvah (also called bat mitzvahs for girls and bar mitzvahs for boys), Jewish coming-of-age ceremonies typically done at age 13.
B’nai Mitzvah
The Latest
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News 13 Years Later, Jewish Children of 9/11 Come of Age
Next February, Jamie Pila, a hockey-playing middle school student with a mane of curly brown hair, will step up to the bimah at Temple Har Shalom in Warren, N.J. and become a bat mitzvah in front of her mother, sister, stepfather and two stepsiblings. Missing will be the biological father she never met. Her namesake,…
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The Schmooze A ‘Drive-By’ Bar Mitzvah for Lisa Kudrow’s Son
Getty Images Major faux pas, Lisa Kudrow. The former “Friends” actress, who stars in the new Seth Rogen/Zac Efron comedy “Neighbours,” got into an awkward spot with Conan O’Brien, after he found out that she “mispaced” his invitation to her son’s bar mitzvah. “You and I have been friends for a long time and then…
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Opinion Bar Mitzvah Boy Talks Gay Marriage
At my bar mitzvah, many moons ago, I took the daring step to talk about… I can’t remember. Like most Bar and Bat Mitzvah kids, my remarks were pretty perfunctory. But not those of Duncan McAlpine Sennett. In a talk now trending on YouTube, Duncan starts out in straightforward fashion, talking about his Torah portion….
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The Schmooze A Very Seinfeld Bat Mitzvah
A big mazel tov to Sascha Seinfeld, who celebrated her bat mitzvah this weekend! Kvelling mommy Jessica posted this amazing picture of Jerry, their son Shepherd, George Stephanopoulos and BRAVO’s Andy Cohen: But the party started early for the Seinfeld family. Last week, the bat mitzvah girl posted this picture to said Instagram account, with…
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Books ‘My Basmati Bat Mitzvah’ — and Pew
Earlier this month, my social media feeds were full of comments about the recent Pew Study, A Portrait of Jewish Americans. Even more than the actual study though, it was the New York Times article about the findings that generated the most conversation, with its telling headline, “Poll Shows Major Shift in Identity of U.S….
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Opinion How We Cover Sammy Cohen-Eckstein’s Death
The morning after the funeral for Samuel Cohen-Eckstein, the Brooklyn teenager who was killed by a van just a month before his bar mitzvah, the leaders of his family’s synagogue wrote to me, extremely upset about our coverage. Since these are leaders I respect, who raised serious, vexing questions, I responded to them right away….
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News After Y.U. Drama, What About Other Jewish Groups Where Akiva Roth Worked?
The revelation that Yeshiva University hired a convicted sex offender even while facing charges that it covered up decades of sexual abuse has raised questions about the policies of other Jewish institutions at which he previously worked. The Jewish Theological Seminary, which employed the man a decade ago, says it did not know then about…
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News Bar Mitzvah Boy Sammy Cohen-Eckstein Mourned by Hundreds at Brooklyn Funeral
Hundreds gathered at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope on Thursday for the funeral of a 12-year-old boy killed Brooklyn boy who was struck by a van and killed on Tuesday evening outside his home near Prospect Park. Amidst audible sobs in the packed synagogue, friends and family of Samuel Cohen-Eckstein stood to bid him…
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