An upbeat TV report on a bar mitzvah boy, and his reservist dad, as rockets fall

Amid the relentless reports on the war and endless rocket attacks, Channel 12 news breaks away for a happier item: The bar mitzvah of Matan Rivstein.

The Rivstein family usually lives in Kibbutz Or HaNer, near the Gaza border town of Sderot, and has been evacuated to Tiberias.

Matan’s bar mitzvah was hurriedly rearranged yesterday at the Tiberias hotel where they are staying. “It was very emotional,” Matan says by phone, as the TV shows video clips of the celebration, adding that most of his friends made it.

Also present at the celebration was his father, Barak, who was given a break from his current military duty in the reserves, and who is also interviewed.

Barak Rivstein, currently in the reserves, speaks to Channel 12 news about the bar mitzvah of his son, Matan, October 15, 2023 (Channel 12 news screenshot; used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Underlining the surreality of the TV piece is that it was preceded by an item showing Hamas terrorists’ bodycam footage as they attacked another kibbutz, Sufa, and was followed by the latest news of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with families of the hostages.

What’s more, the item itself was truncated by alerts of another round of rocket attacks from Gaza on Israel, with the screen filling with the list of communities whose residents were being told to dash to saferooms.