This is 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
-
Life He Survived Holocaust And Had A Bar Mitzvah. Now His Grandson Returns To Bimah In Same Polish Synagogue
Philip Epstein has stood in the same exact spot on two separate occasions, 72 years apart. The first time was in 1946 when Epstein, a child Holocaust survivor, was called to the bimah to become a bar mitzvah at the Reicher Synagogue in Lodz, Poland. He was only eleven at the time, and according to…
-
Fast Forward WATCH: 93-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Celebrates Bar Mitzvah
93-year-old Holocaust survivor Samuel Heider just celebrated his bar mitzvah, ABC News reported. The celebration was held near Heider’s home in Dayton, Ohio. Heider was unable to have a bar mitzvah because his family was torn apart during the Nazi invasion of Poland. Each were sent to separate camps. Heider survived Auschwitz, but his parents…
-
Fast Forward Holocaust Survivor Has Bar Mitzvah To Remember Slain Family — At 83
(JTA) — An 83-year-old Holocaust survivor living in northern Israel celebrated at a Safed synagogue his bar mitzah ceremony 70 years after its die moment. A few dozen friends and family, as well as Safed’s police commissioner, accompanied Hanoch Shachar to a local synagogue where many of them sang and danced with him before he…
-
Fast Forward This Teen Had A Gender-Neutral B’nei Mitzvah
(JTA) — When Esther Thorpe came out as gender neutral a year ago, identifying neither as male nor female, Miriam Taylor Thorpe was worried. Esther’s mother already had a child come out as gay and feared that Esther, 14, would have trouble finding a Jewish community that would be accepting and inclusive. The family was…
-
The Schmooze Disney Made History This Weekend — With A Bar Mitzvah
On Friday night, Disney became a man. Disney Channel aired a gay character’s bar mitzvah for the first time in the network’s history. Not only did the popular kids’ program “Andi Mack” feature an hour long special dedicated to a bar mitzvah, but in addition, the character having the bar mitzvah was the same character…
-
Culture Tell The Forverts About Your Favorite Heirloom
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts. Those of us who love Yiddish are often naturally drawn to objects of a previous era. No surprise, then, that many of us have boxes of old stuff stashed away in the attic or closet, related either to our own past or to that of a relative…
-
Fast Forward Couple Sues Manhattan Hotel For ‘Starving’ Guests At Daughter’s Bat Mitzvah
(JTA) — A couple is suing a Manhattan hotel for allegedly “starving” the guests at her daughter’s $37,000 bat mitzvah party. The lawsuit against Hotel Eventi was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, the New York Post reported Sunday. Nancy Held, the mother of the bat mitzvah girl, said the food for her 150 guests at…
-
Community Scott Bryce Speaks Candidly About Raising Children ‘Jewnitarian’
You might recognize Scott Bryce from his roles in several television shows, including “The Good Fight,” “Murphy Brown,“ The Facts Of Life” and his guest spots on “Homeland” and “30 Rock.” To many, he is still Craig Montgomery on “As The World Turns,” and Bryce’s portrayal earned him multiple acting awards and fan survey awards…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Unarmed man who tackled Bondi Beach Hanukkah attacker identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed
- 2
Opinion I grew up believing Australia was the best place to be Jewish. This Hanukkah shooting forces a reckoning I do not want.
- 3
Fast Forward Hanukkah shooting leaves at least 15 dead at Australia’s most popular beach
- 4
Fast Forward Father and son suspects in Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack identified as Sajid and Naveed Akram by law enforcement
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture In making a Christian case for Shabbat, Charlie Kirk stripped off its Judaism
-
News Christians are displaying menorahs in their windows post-Bondi Beach attack. Why some Jews object
-
Opinion My religion was ‘None of the above,’ until Oct. 7 and now Bondi
-
Yiddish World This Pennsylvania rabbi fuses liberal Judaism with Hasidic Yiddish
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
