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bar mitzvah

PROMOTED CONTENT
From the WebAugust 13, 2026, 9:25 pm
A new B’nai Mitzvah initiative connecting youth to Israel
SparkIL offers free programs for families and educators seeking meaningful B’nai Mitzvah projects that connect Jewish values, personal passions, and Israeli entrepreneurs.
PROMOTED CONTENT
August 11, 2026, 9:46 am
A new B’nai Mitzvah initiative connecting youth to Israel
SparkIL offers free programs for families and educators seeking meaningful B’nai Mitzvah projects that connect Jewish values, personal passions, and Israeli entrepreneurs.
By Tamar Vogel
Brett Smiley, mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, carries a Torah scroll at his bar mitzvah held at Temple Beth-El in Providence, March 14, 2026. (Candy Adriance)
March 19, 2026, 9:51 am
Divine Providence: Serving and former mayors of Rhode Island capital celebrate bar mitzvahs
Brett Smiley and David Cicilline join 11 others in a group ceremony after 18 months of study for those celebrating the rite of passage as adults
By Sue Surkes
Idina Menzel (from left), Samantha Lorraine, Adam Sandler, Sunny Sandler and Sadie Sandler in a scene from the Netflix film 'You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah.' (Courtesy Netflix)
August 25, 2023, 1:47 am
‘You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah’ draws inspiration from real celebrations
Production designer and set director say they crashed 10 ‘amazing and big and outlandish and extravagant’ parties to prepare for new Adam Sandler comedy
By Shira Li Bartov
Ofri Meoded Danon and his mother celebrate his bar mitzvah at the egalitarian plaza of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel in May 2023. (Courtesy of Meoded Danon)
June 23, 2023, 9:56 am
Red tape keeps non-Orthodox worshipers a stone’s throw from the Western Wall
5 years after stone collapse at holy site, authorities have yet to reopen access to Wall at egalitarian section; religious activists argue delay is deliberate
By Canaan Lidor
Shalom and Tzur Yaniv, the father and brother of slain brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv, recite the Kaddish mourning prayer on Memorial Day at the Western Wall ceremony, April 24, 2023. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
April 25, 2023, 4:25 pm
Sibling of slain Yaniv brothers celebrates his bar mitzvah at their graves
Tzur Yaniv feted at Mount Herzl cemetery on Memorial Day; sister Rachel Yaniv addresses Knesset ceremony: ‘Despite the incomprehensible price we have paid, we continue to love’
By Amy Spiro
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, right, and his son Aaron Alexander Abramovich at the Western Wall to mark the latter's bar mitzvah, in the Old City of Jerusalem on December 20, 2022. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
December 20, 2022, 7:04 pm
Oligarch Roman Abramovich spotted at Western Wall, reportedly for son’s bar mitzvah
Tycoon, who got Israeli citizenship in 2018, was seen leaving the country in March; is said to have lost over half his fortune due to Western sanctions over Ukraine war
By ToI Staff
In 2012, Nissim Ourfali became a household name across Brazil. (Screenshot from YouTube/Design by Mollie Suss/ JTA)
November 14, 2022, 1:16 am
10 years ago, a viral Brazilian bar mitzvah video turned club hit
Today, young people across Brazil recognize Nissim Ourfali, a Jewish boy who in 2012 became one of the country’s first memes and an inspiration to DJs countrywide
By CALEB GUEDES-REED
Vanessa Burghardt (left) and Dakota Johnson in 'Cha Cha Real Smooth.' (Courtesy of Apple/ via JTA)
June 29, 2022, 4:59 pm
Is ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ the first good bar/bat mitzvah movie?
Despite its theme, the film doesn’t have a particularly Jewish bent – which works to its advantage as it deals with the aspects of the coming-of-age ritual everyone can relate to
By Andrew Lapin
Rabbi Rebecca Eisenstadt leads a bat mitzvah at The Plaza Hotel in November 2021. (Heidi Green/ via JTA)
May 28, 2022, 4:14 am
This private, on-demand ‘hot rabbi’ may soon be the star of her own reality TV show
Rabbi Becky Eisenstadt started b’nai mitzvah tutoring in her hometown in Bethesda, Maryland. Twenty years later, as more Jews skip the synagogue, she’s made it into a mini-empire
By julia GERGELY
(L-R) Eric Andre, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero in The Village Temple in New York City, in an episode of "Desus & Mero." (Screen capture/YouTube)
August 6, 2021, 11:44 pm
Desus and Mero get bar mitzvahed (sort of) in their Showtime series
Eager to learn more about Jewish culture on their late night comedy show, non-Jewish Jamaican-American and Dominican-American duo recruit comedian Eric Andre, Rabbi Diana Fersko
By Gabe Friedman
Steele Robbins as Donny in "Donny's Bar Mitzvah." (The Circle Collective via JTA)
March 26, 2021, 4:33 am
‘Donny’s Bar Mitzvah’ wants to be the raunchiest Jewish movie ever
Indie comedy released this week fails to deliver with its gross-out gags, vulgarity, and Judaism falls by the wayside, reviewer says
By Stephen Silver
Poet and author Kwame Alexander surprises bar mitzvah boy Mossy Simonson at his home in London, January 17, 2021. (Raymond Simonson)
January 29, 2021, 1:50 pm
Famed young adult author walks hours across London to surprise bar mitzvah boy
Responding to an appreciative tweet from Mossy Simonson’s father, award-winning poet Kwame Alexander shows up on family’s doorstep with signed books and best wishes for the big day
By Renee Ghert-Zand
The family and friends cast of 'Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat,' a production created solely for the coronavirus bar mitzvah celebration of Jerusalem 13-year-old Adin Markowitz (Courtesy Laura Ben-David)
December 23, 2020, 6:53 pm
Family brings ‘Technicolor Dreamcoat’ to life for bar mitzvah
Refusing to let plans be ruined by pandemic, musical theater-crazy Jerusalem family spend 6 months planning, rehearsing and filming classic in desert for single showing
By Jessica Steinberg
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hosts 60 tweens and teenagers previously injured in terror attacks for a celebration of their bar and bat mitzvahs in Jerusalem on Thursday December 19, 2019. (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
December 20, 2019, 9:22 am
Rivlin hosts bar and bat mitzvah celebration for 60 child terror survivors
Israeli president welcomes teenagers at Jerusalem residence for annual event: ‘The people of Israel are with you’
By ToI Staff
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