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Category: Blog

Rabbi for Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah Ceremonies – Any Venue Blog

The $7 Million Bat Mitzvah

July 7, 2023

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

April 26, 2023

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

February 24, 2023

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

January 31, 2023

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

October 26, 2022

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)

September 20, 2022

*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

August 9, 2022

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

August 3, 2022

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

July 25, 2022

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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Celebrating 100 Years Since the First Bat Mitzvah

March 18, 2022

Today, March 18, 2022, marks the 100 year anniversary since the first bat mitzvah100 year anniversary since the first bat mitzvah. Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan held the first public celebration of a bat mitzvah in the United States, for his daughter Judith, on March 18, 1922, at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, his […]

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