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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Fast Forward Did A Bar Mitzvah DJ Rock Jon Ossoff’s Election Shindig?
Georgia congressional candidate Jon Ossoff’s election night party contained a mix of emotions, with attendees giddy at his better-than-expected showing but disappointed that he did not clear the 50% tally necessary to avoid a runoff in June. But the night was made much groovier by the party’s soundtrack, which featured many songs that likely would…
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Community WATCH: Adam Prepares for His Bar Mitzvah
In his Bar Mitzvah video, Adam Wolfond, a non-speaking autistic person who types to communicate, explores the story of Moses and the Golden Calf to ask: “Does the Torah book answer the reasons why I don’t talk?” Viewed as non-relational and unaware because of his autism label, Adam expresses his relationship to others, his environment…
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Culture My Guinea Pig’s Bar Mitzvah: What We Learned
It seemed appropriate to plan our guinea pig’s bar mitzvah for the Purim weekend. My daughter is an eager new attendee at Hebrew school and can’t wait to be bat mitzvah. Given her age she has a few years to wait, but she decided that, at 25 months, Snickers the guinea pig had reached the…
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Life Tiffany Charm Bracelet Evokes Memories of Bat Mitzvahs Past
What does “Tiffany” mean to you? Is it a place to breakfast with Audrey Hepburn? Or does it evoke the plight of the younger Trump daughter? There’s yet another meaning to the brand, which Joanna Rothkopf lays out at Jezebel: upscale bat mitzvah gift bracelets. First, Chavie Lieber had tweeted the following: OK, I’M SORRY…
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Culture On Cult German Show, Real Rabbi Officiates TV Bar Mitzvah
If you walk through a German-speaking town next Sunday night, the odds are that the streets will literally be empty as people stay at home to watch a bar mitzvah on TV. For Germans and Austrians like me, “Tatort” (“Crime Scene”) is the holy grail of television. It’s the German equivalent of “Game of Thrones,”…
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News Did Donald Trump’s ‘Jewish Wingman’ Use Bar Mitzvah Skills for Campaign Launch?
Donald Trump’s announcement of his presidential run in June 2015 will be remembered for the Republican nominee’s incendiary language — and his long descent on an escalator in Trump Tower. But if Trump adviser Michael Cohen had carried the day, the event might have even more over-the-top, with balloons, models and a circus elephant, according…
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Life From Secular Christianity To The Sukkah (But Watch Out For Bears)
When I was 12 I asked my mom to take me to church so I could learn about religion. I grew up in a secular Christian household. My religious upbringing was full of questions without answers and a sense that there must be something more out there. Though we celebrated secular Christmases and Easters at…
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News World’s Oldest Man Celebrates Bar Mitzvah — 100 Years Late
The world’s oldest man, 113-year-old Yisrael Kristal, a Holocaust survivor living in Israel, celebrated his bar mitzvah a century late. Kristal, of Haifa, celebrated the rite over the weekend with his two children, grandchildren and nearly 30 great-grandchildren, The Associated Press reported. He was recognized as the world’s oldest man in March. He missed his…
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