Monday, April 20, 2009

A Real Community Bar Mitzvah

This past Shabbos was another only in Israel type of event. There was a Bar Mitzvah for someone who has a brother in Channah's class. They are fond of each other and Channah wanted to go. The family used to daven at our shul before switching at some point during this year. The father still has connections to our shul, so the entire congergation was invited to kiddush.

Our shul made arrangements so everybody who wanted to could go. The Shabbos Mevorchim kiddush was cancelled. Our Rabbi who normally speaks after davening moved his dvar Torah to before Mussaf, so he could daven Mussaf at the Bar Mitzvah. They started davening 30 minutes after us. Many of the after shul programs were cancelled because the people who run them were going.

Rachel wasn't feeling well, so I took Channah. The kiddush was in a room that is under construction. There were walls and a ceiling.The ground was still rough and their were some broken pews around the outside. It felt like being outside in the beautiful weather, while technically being inside.Their was a decent amount of food but nothing obscene. There were lots of people (including many from our shul) but it did not come anywhere close to being a full contact kiddush. Channah got to see her friend and eat some chocolate cake.

The whole thing was just really laid back and nice. It was a real community event.

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