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Tag: Rabbi

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

October 16, 2024
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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Jewish News Syndicate – Rosh Hashanah Sermon About Jewish Pride After Ukraine Immigrants Celebrate Quad Bar Mitzvah

September 12, 2023

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

August 24, 2023

‘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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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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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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Transgender Bar Mitzvah Ceremony – They Mitzvah Challenges Jewish Traditions

March 16, 2022

In HBO’s ‘And Just Like That’ finale, a ‘they mitzvah’ challenges Jewish traditions From JTA News By Philissa Cramer February 3, 2022 The previews for the season finale of “And Just Like That,” the “Sex and the City” reboot airing on HBO, suggested that viewers would get to see a “they mitzvah.” And for most […]

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They Mitzvah – Sex & the City’s Reboot

February 25, 2022
They Mitzvah - Charlotte York - Sex and the City

In the final episodes of “And Just Like That” on HBO Max, Charlotte York-Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) helped her nonbinary child, Rock, prepare for their traditional Jewish coming-of-age ceremony. Typically (traditionally?), bar and bat mitzvahs, in which 13-year-old boys and 12-year-old (often, also 13-year-old) girls are welcomed into adulthood and called up to the Torah for the […]

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Hosting a Virtual Bar Mitzvah

April 21, 2021

  HOSTING A VIRTUAL BAR MITZVAH OR VIRTUAL BAT MITZVAH   If you’ve decided to host a hybrid bar mitzvah or hybrid bat mitzvah with both on-site and virtual components, here are some tips to ensure the day goes smoothly and all your guests have a great time. Test equipment/video before the event. Taking the […]

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Zoom Mitzvahs – Virtual Bar Mitzvah and Virtual Bat Mitzvah Services

March 23, 2021

From the Jerusalem Post February 28, 2021 NEW YORK – When the Bregman family was planning their son Daniel’s bar mitzvah this past November, parents Eleanor and Peter found themselves with a lot more responsibilities –and ownership – over the process than they had with the two previous bat mitzvahs they had planned. Daniel’s bar mitzvah, which […]

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Virtual Bar Mitzvahs During the COVID Pandemic

April 28, 2020

Throwing candy at the computer: What celebrating your bat mitzvah looks like in the time of the coronavirus From JTA – Midway through Lila Duke’s bat mitzvah ceremony, her family’s cat made an appearance. Minnie’s interruption was one of many ways that Lila’s coming-of-age ceremony was different from what she had expected. While the 12-year-old […]

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80 Holocaust Survivors Celebrate Bar Mitzvah in Israel

January 24, 2020

From the Jerusalem Post: 80 Holocaust survivors recently celebrated their bar mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, including several women who celebrated their bat mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem as well. “My two children don’t live in Israel and I lost my husband a long time ago,” said Bella. “This event was […]

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What is a Bar Mitzvah?

January 24, 2020

Professor Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University explains the history of the bar mitzvah ceremony It is a common scene on many a Saturday morning in cities and towns across the United States to see seventh- and eighth-grade boys and girls, a few not Jewish at all, gather in synagogues and temples to watch a classmate’s […]

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Why Are Some American Jews Opting For Independent Bar Mitzvahs Outside The Synagogue?

March 8, 2018

From the Jewish Daily Forward By Talia Liben Yarmush Some people call them “unaffiliated,” some call them “independents,” and others, “off the grid.” They’re the members of the Jewish community who don’t belong to a synagogue or affiliate with any particular denomination. According to the oft-cited 2013 Pew Study on Jewish Americans, 22% of American […]

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