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Why I Declined to Appear on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City

Meredith Marks - Adult Bat Mitzvah on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City

As someone who has dedicated much of my rabbinic career to making Jewish lifecycle events meaningful and authentic, I was honored to be approached by the producers of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. They asked if I would help Meredith Marks, one of the show’s stars, celebrate and reaffirm her Jewish faith […]

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Bar Mitzvah Project – Holocaust Remembrance Foundation

Many of my bat mitzvah and bar mitzvah students are looking for interesting mitzvah projects. Here’s an example that one of my bar mitzvah students is doing for his mitzvah project in partnership with the Holocaust Remembrance Foundation in Philadelphia. Similar Mitzvah Project opportunities exist in other cities as well. Dear Friends and Family, For […]

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Mitzvah Project Ideas – Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah Project Suggestions

Animals Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind Website Hands-on Projects Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc. PETA San Antonio Audubon Society Animal Defense League of Texas San Antonio Humane Society SNIPSA City of San Antonio Animal Care Services Detection Rats World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Hope 4 Hounds Find an animal rescue facility or contact […]

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Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah Announcements in Detroit Jewish News

If you’d like to announce your child’s bar or bat mitzvah for free in the Detroit Jewish News: https://www.thejewishnews.com/site/forms/announcements/bar__bnai_mitzvah/

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How to Make Your Own Tallit

I recently had a bat mitzvah student ask if she could make her own tallit. She loves tigers and recently ordered bed sheets with pictures of tigers on them, but they were the wrong size. The company sent a replacement set and told her to keep the original set. She asked me if she could […]

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Talking About Israel with Our Children & Teens

Dear Parents, As I write these words the situation in Israel seems to be getting even more concerning and disheartening. Several parents have asked me for advice on how to talk to children and teenagers about the current situation in Israel. The quick answer is that it is not easy to have these conversations, but […]

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Mitzvah Project Mania

From eJewishPhilanthropy By Esther D. Kustanowitz New initiatives look to help Jewish teens connect to themselves and their community before becoming adults Gone are the days of donating a portion of your gift money to charity; groups across the U.S. want b’nai mitzvah projects to resonate. When Elie Klein was 13, he knew that giving […]

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Jewish News Syndicate – Rosh Hashanah Sermon About Jewish Pride After Ukraine Immigrants Celebrate Quad Bar Mitzvah

Rabbis to offer sermons on everything from AI to Ukraine on High Holidays Excerpt from JNS (Jewish News Syndicate) Article by Sergio Carmona In his sermons, Miller intends to talk about his experience working with bar and bat mitzvah students, and how their commitment to continuing their Jewish heritage encourages him. He plans to talk […]

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Bat Mitzvah is the Theme for New Adam Sandler Movie on Netflix

‘You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah’ is an endearing Sandler family affair By Amy Spiro – Times of Israel This might be Adam Sandler’s most Jewish movie ever — and that’s saying something. From “Uncut Gems” to “The Meyerowitz Stories,” “Sandy Wexler” and “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” Sandler has long […]

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The $7 Million Bat Mitzvah

My AEPi fraternity brother and financial consultant, David Ogman of Boca Raton, Florida, posted a very interesting LinkedIn commentary today. When the rabbi of his synagogue called to schedule his daughter’s Bat Mitzvah he considered how a long term investment would yield a sizable retirement fund for his daughter in lieu of a $100,000 Bat […]

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Gender Neutral Bar Mitzvah Ceremony – The B Mitzvah

‘I wanted to be more me’: Teens propel a trend toward gender-neutral mitzvah ceremonies By Shira Nathan – Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) Like many Jewish teens, Ash Brave was nervous for their b’nai mitzvah. Memorizing the Torah portion, sending invitations, planning a party: It’s a lot for a 13-year-old to think about during what can […]

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Representative Adam Schiff’s Bar Mitzvah

  “Here I am at 13, in all my ‘glory’ at my Bar Mitzvah. I’ll admit, it’s easy to chuckle at this photo – the classic 1970s bow tie, the braces, the yarmulke, the looks – but it is also an opportunity to tell you a little about how I approach my faith. Throughout my […]

Mitzvah Moments

ESPN’s Jeff Passan Recalls His Bar Mitzvah and Hebrew School

From JTA.org (by Jacob Gurvis) For tuned-in baseball fans, Jeff Passan is everywhere. As ESPN’s senior MLB insider, he frequently breaks some of the sport’s biggest news and appears on several of the global sports network’s television, radio and podcast programs. After two decades of reporting, can anything make him nervous? There is one athlete […]

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Autographed Baseball from a Bar Mitzvah Boy

I collect autographed baseballs signed by professional players, including many Hall of Famers, but I’ve always cherished the autographed balls signed by the little league players I’ve coached over the years. One of the baseballs I display in my office was inscribed by Adam, a bar mitzvah student of mine from 2021. Adam presented me […]

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The Role of Grandparents in Their Grandchildren’s B-Mitzvah Experience

BY RAHEL MUSLEAH JEWISH GRANDPARENTS NETWORK REIMAGINING ROLE OF GRANDPARENTS IN GRANDCHILDREN’S B-MITZVAH EXPERIENCE We all recognize this B-Mitzvah scene: A 13-year-old stands on the bimah, chants from the Torah and/or haftarah, and delivers a d’var Torah prepared with the help of the rabbi or educator. The extended family sits in the front row, emotional […]

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Am I Really A Bat Mitzvah (An Original Essay)

*This is a wonderful original essay by a Jewish day school graduate who is now in high school. This essay won first prize in the Cohn-Haddow Center essay contest in 2022. Am I Really A Bat Mitzvah By Ellery Gnesin Tuesday, March 24th 2020 Standing there, in the middle of dancing at 8 o’clock in […]

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Adam Sandler’s Bar Mitzvah Movie on Netflix

I was disappointed to see that Adam Sandler is wearing a kippah (yarmulke) in his upcoming movie about a bat mitzvah and it’s not the kippah that I presented to him back in 2000 when he was on the set of the movie “Little Nicky.” The movie was being filmed on the street next to […]

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Netflix Founder Marc Randolph Celebrates Adult Bar Mitzvah

It’s never too late to celebrate a bar mitzvah! Netflix founder Marc Randolph recently celebrated his bar mitzvah. The website COL LIVE reports that the Netflix founder and Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Marc Randolph had been recording another episode for his business podcast “That Will Never Work” when he was invited to put on tefillin […]

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Bat Mitzvah Dance at Detroit Synagogue Goes Viral 25 Years Later

Shelby Kaufman, a native Metro Detroit Jewish woman has gone viral after the Today Show on NBC picked up her viral TikTok video, which over 7 million people watched. Shelby made a side-by-side video of her original bat mitzvah dance and a recreation of her doing the same dance 25 years later. Shelby returned to […]

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