A Bar Mitzvah? Mazel Tov!

I went to my first Bar Mitzvah a few weeks back. I rather enjoyed the experience.

The ceremony itself was fairly similar to the Catholic ceremonies from my upbringing. You sit. You stand. There’s a “call and response” section. (But no kneeling... Amen.) All you have to do is substitute “Israel” for “Jesus” once in a while and you can almost use the same text.

The ceremony was more family oriented than I remember a confirmation being. Mother, father, sister and cousins were all involved at various points in the ceremony. I don’t know if that’s true of Bar Mitzvahs in general or if that’s just the way this particular temple does things.

There was some type of ark at the front of the temple. I told Jen to keep her eyes closed in case they opened it.

I also never realized how much Hebrew sounds like Klingon. Simply take out the singing and grunt a little more.

After the ceremony, we moved to the Squantum Club in East Providence. This part was more like a typical thirteen year old’s birthday party. A DJ blasted music from the corner. Two professional dancing girls lead the kids through the Electric Slide and the other standard dances. There were presents and cake.

I wore my brand new brown velvet jacket (which, of course, I didn’t pay full price for). However, I went home disappointed when nobody commented on it all day. I was hoping for a “What is that? Velvet?”