This is What a $1 Million Bat Mitzvah Looks Like

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Pearls, feathered headdresses and a lavish dinner for 300 intimate friends — no, it’s not a Fashion Week bash. Just a bat mitzvah.
Hudson News mogul Jimmy Cohen dropped $1 million on a party for his daughter Jaclyn on Saturday at their home in Alpine, N.J. Like all good bat mitzvahs, there was a theme: 1960s Lily Pulitzer.

The New York Post that guests were greeted by Vegas-style showgirls in a tent of pink and grey satin. Other perks included a roller coaster simulator and unlimited milkshakes and ice cream, flamingos, orchids and bird cages filled with feathers and other fancy fabrics, designed by Jaclyn’s mother, interior design editor Lisa Cohen. Oh, and Joe Jonas showed up to sing (for a mere $300,000).

And what would a million-dollar coming of age event be without a professionally produced movie, starring the aspiring actress bat mitzvah girl?
As one guest put it: “It was the most lavish party anyone has been to in a long time, like they used to throw before the financial crisis.”
So, I guess my invite got lost in the mail?

Image by Instagram
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
