Bar Mitzvah

BY CHARLES BERMAN cberman@pioneerlocal.com May 16, 2012 9:14AM

Highland Park 17-year-old Sophie Nathan visited Rwanda last summer to volunteer at the HIV and AIDS clinic that she helped raise money to build. She also visited a nearby children’s orphanage to meet children born with the disease. | Photos courtesy Sophie Nathan

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Updated: May 16, 2012 11:09AM

Sophie Nathan was only 12 years old when she learned that she could make a world of difference.

Her Bat Mitzvah was rapidly approaching when the daughter of her teacher at Solomon Schechter Day School came to class one day. The classroom guest was a member of the Peace Corps, who had carried the mission of helping children with HIV and AIDS in Africa.

The stories stuck with Nathan.

Wanting to do more, she convinced her parents to take her to Cook County Hospital to meet a doctor who was spearheading a project to stem the spread of the disease in Rwanda post-genocide. Nathan learned that money was needed to build a treatment clinic in Kigali.

Even more inspired, Nathan turned the cause into the centerpiece of her Bat Mitzvah. Instead of receiving gifts, Nathans invitations solicited donations. With a matching donation from her parents, Nathan raised enough money to help finance the clinic.

That was five years ago. Now a 17-year-old junior at Highland Park High School, Nathans contributions and connection to those children in Rwanda have grown even stronger.

Excerpt from:
Student’s humanitarian mission endures

BOSTON Grizzled veterans vs. young upstarts it’s supposed to be a lopsided advantage for the old-timers.

That’s always been the case in the NBA playoffs, but it wasn’t last night as the Philadelphia 76ers tied up their Eastern Conference semifinal series at 1-1 with a gutty 82-81 win over Boston.

“They’re really becoming men,” said second-year 76ers coach Doug Collins.

It might have been a basketball Bar Mitzvah for Evan Turner, the 23-year-old, second-year shooting guard.

The journey to manhood has been filled with more challenges than a No. 2 overall pick might expect.

Last night may have been the career highlight for the ex-Ohio State All-American.

He muscled his way for an acrobatic lay-up to put Philly up 76-75 with 40 seconds left and hit two pressure-packed free throws with 12.1 seconds left to push the lead to 78-75. A couple of late Boston 3-pointers were too little too late thanks to late Philly free throws by Lou Williams and Jodie Meeks.

The game started ignominiously for the visitors (Boston led 9-0 2:08 in) and more so for Turner.

“I got hit below the belt,” he said with a grin.

After last night, Celtics fans can relate to that feeling.

Read the original post:
Philadelphia's basketball Bar Mitzvah

Today, at least according to the Jewish religion, my daughter is becoming a woman. I imagine those who devised the bat mitzvah ceremony couldn't have imagined what that would mean in 2012.

Continue reading here:
Pam Sherman: Seeing a daughter blossom

Teen started Yaldah Magazine is going from quarterly to monthlyBrooklyn, NY (PRWEB) May 12, 2012 Yaldah is the only magazine written, illustrated, and designed for Jewish Girls, by Jewish Girls. Every issue is a full 60 pages of interviews, stories, arts, tips, cooking, fashion, contests, inspiration, and more! Yaldah is the best Jewish reading for girls and the best Bat Mitzvah gift!Yaldah is …

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Yaldah Magazine: Jewish Teen Magazine Makes Perfect Bat Mitzvah Gift

Bar and Bat Mitzvah listing published in the Jewish Ledger on May 11, 2012

ERIC BIENSTOCK, son of Joanne and Kenneth Bienstock, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Beth El Temple in West Hartford. HANNAH BIENSTOCK, daughter of Joanne and Kenneth Bienstock, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Beth El Temple in West Hartford. HEATHER BIENSTOCK, daughter of Joanne and Kenneth Bienstock, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Beth El Temple in West Hartford. TYLER BROWN-ORTIZ, son of Sue Brown and Jaime Ortiz zl, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Mishkan Israel in Hamden. ANNA COHENURAM, daughter of Wendy and Michael Cohenuram, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Bnai Israel in Bridgeport. VERONICA DERGACHEV, daughter of Irina and Dmitriy Dergachev, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Bnai Torah in Trumbull. BRANDON DICICCO, son of Samantha and William DiCicco, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Sinai in Milford. LORETT FEIVELSON, daughter of Cynthia and Mark Feivelson, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Temple Sinai in Newington. JOEY GISTER, son of Meg Gister, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek in Chester.

SOPHIE GOLD, daughter of Lauren Gister and Richard Gold, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek in Chester. KELLY GOSIMINSKI, daughter of Beth and Jeff Gosiminski, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation-Emek Shalom in Simsbury. ALISON HERZ, daughter of Elizabeth and Richard Herz, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at The Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford. RACHELLE HOCHMAN, daughter of Stephanie and Saul Hochman, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Bnai Jacob in Woodbridge. JACOB NULAND, son of Lissa and Seth Nuland, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Bridgeport. JILLIAN PRESSER, daughter of Jessica and Michael Presser, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Bnai Israel in Bridgeport. MADISON SCHULMAN, daughter of Marnie and Marc Schulman, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Kol Haverim in Glastonbury. LUCY SHIN, daughter of Abby Wadler and Chung Shin, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Temple Israel in Westport. ANNIE TILDEN, daughter of Lisa Namerow and Fred Tilden, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 12 at Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford.

The rest is here:
B’nai Mitzvah for 5/12/12

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO | The Eilenberg family, from left: Mara, Sofia, Mark, Ruth, Howard, Helene and Matthew.

Southold resident Howard Eilenberg spent his 83rd birthday in style on Saturday, May 5, celebrating his second bar mitzvah at the North Fork Reform Synagogue in Cutchogue.

Howard is 83 going on 13, said the congregations student rabbi, Bethie Miller.

Because the Torah gives the normal human lifespan as 70 years, 83-year-olds are sometimes considered age 13 in a second lifetime.

Mr. Eilenberg read from the Torah during Saturdays gathering, as is customary at ones bar mitzvah, a Jewish rite of passage through which boys become men in the eyes of his congregation.

He did great reading from the Torah and each of us was glad that he was up there and not us, said his wife, Ruth.

Its an honor to have done it and a great relief to have completed it, Mr. Eilenberg said after the ceremony, after which the celebrants had a luncheon n the buildings basement. Its a very happy occasion to be with my family on this day, he added.

Their daughter Mara Wilson, son Matthew Eilenberg, son-in-law Mark Wilson, daughter-in-law Helene Santo and granddaughter Sofia Wilson joined the Eilenbergs at the event.

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO | Howard Eilenberg at North Fork Reform Synagogue on Saturday.

See the article here:
Bar mitzvah number two for Southold octogenarian

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO | At Howard Eilenberg’s second bar mitzvah were family members, from left, Mara, Sofia, Mark, Ruth, Howard, Helene, Matthew.

Southold resident Howard Eilenberg spent his 83rd birthday in style on Saturday, May 5, celebrating his second bar mitzvah at the North Fork Reform Synagogue in Cutchogue.

Howard is 83 going on 13, said the congregations student rabbi, Bethie Miller.

Because the Torah gives the normal human lifespan as 70 years, 83-year-olds are sometimes considered age 13 in a second lifetime.

Mr. Eilenberg read from the Torah during Saturdays gathering, as is customary at ones bar mitzvah, a Jewish rite of passage through which boys become men in the eyes of his congregation.

He did great reading from the Torah and each of us was glad that he was up there and not us, said his wife, Ruth.

Its an honor to have done it and a great relief to have completed it, Mr. Eilenberg said after the ceremony, after which the celebrants had a luncheon n the buildings basement. Its a very happy occasion to be with my family on this day, he added.

Their daughter Mara Wilson, son Matthew Eilenberg, son-in-law Mark Wilson, daughter-in-law Helene Santo and granddaughter Sofia Wilson joined the Eilenbergs at the event .

GIANNA VOLPE PHOTO | Howard Eilenberg, 83, at his bar mitzvah on Saturday at North Fork Reform Synagogue.

Read more:
Bar mitzvah number two for Southold octogenerian

Bar and Bat Mitzvah listing published in the Jewish Ledger on May 4, 2012.

HANNAH BORGIDA, daughter of Melissa and Adam Borgida, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 5 at Beth El Temple in West Hartford.

JULIA BORGIDA, daughter of Melissa and Adam Borgida, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 5 at Beth El Temple in West Hartford.

JESSE CONNELLY-COHEN, daughter of Sandy Cohen, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 5 at Temple Sinai in Newington.

NOAH CONNELLY-COHEN, son of Sandy Cohen, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, May 5 at Temple Sinai in Newington.

NATHAN DWORKIN, son of Beth and David Dworkin, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, May 5 at Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford.

GEOFFREY GAUGLER, son of Laurie and Dean Gaugler, will celebrate his bar mitzvah on Saturday, May 5 at Congregation Bnai Israel in Bridgeport.

RACHEL GAUGLER, daughter of Laurie and Dean Gaugler, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 5 at Congregation Bnai Israel in Bridgeport.

ELIZA GOLDBERG, daughter of Amy and Gary Goldberg, will celebrate her bat mitzvah on Saturday, May 5 at Temple Israel in Westport.

Original post:
B’nai Mitvah

Community

May 2, 2012

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax

Diller Teen Fellows gather with Israeli teens and Boyle Heights teens in the refurbished Breed Street Shul for a multicultural exchange. Photos courtesy of Breed Street Shul Project.

Milton Muttie Siegel celebrated his bar mitzvah in 1937 at the Breed Street Shul, the largest synagogue in Boyle Heights. Last month, Siegels family marked his yahrzeit, the anniversary of his death, at the same shul, which has recently been partially refurbished as a multiuse space for both the Jewish community and the Latino community that now lives in Boyle Heights.

Jerry Siegel, Miltons son, gathered a minyan of 10 family members and friends, including his fathers infant great-grandson, to mark the yahrzeit, and he hopes to kick off a new tradition among descendants of those who lived in Boyle Heights, the center of The Los Angeles Jewish community from the 1920s to the 1950s.

My father would be 87 if he were alive today. The idea that we were able to observe his yahrzeit in the temple he was bar mitzvahed in was a special feeling. It was very, very moving, Siegel said. Milton Siegel died in 1988.

Among those in attendance last month was Jake Farber, a past chairman of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, who grew up in Boyle Heights and attended Siegels bar mitzvah.

Siegel rented out the small chapel building at the back of the property, and brought in his own prayer books and refreshments. In the last year, the pews, central pulpit and memorial plaques have been cleared out of the 3,700-square-foot wood-frame bungalow that was the original home of Congregation Talmud Torah when it moved from downtown in 1915. But the wooden Torah ark and richly hewed mural at the front of the room leave little doubt as to its original use. The building also has a small kitchen and some classrooms.

Siegel hopes the yahrzeit minyans can also serve as a fundraising tool for the Breed Street Shul Project, the organization that operates the space and is working to restore the main building. The 18,000-square-foot Byzantine revival structure was condemned after its unreinforced masonry was badly damaged in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake. Vandals and pigeons further sullied the building in its years of disuse.

Excerpt from:
From Bar Mitzvah to Yahrzeit, Breed Street Shul comes full circle

Jewish baker Wesley Klein will serve bacon-laced pastries at his new dessert shop, Baconery, which opens May 1 in Chelsea.

There is nothing kosher about the pastries Wesley Klein peddles.

This one-time bar mitzvah boy is the brains behind Baconery, an online foodie paradise where pork and pastry become one.

The business motto: Life is just better with bacon.

Starting next week, Klein will begin selling his bacon creations at a cafe in a Chelsea bookstore.

We get emails every day from people who love our pastries and who keep asking, Wheres your store? said Klein, 33. So were going to test our products and see how it works out.

Starting on May 1, visitors to the cafe at Books of Wonder on West 18th St., will find wonders on the menu like bacon brownies, chocolate coconut bacon and white chocolate bacon pretzel rods.

The chocolate peanut butter bacon cookies are my favorite, said Klein. You got a lot of different tastes in there.

Born in New York and raised in Miami, Klein said his life-long love affair with bacon began at breakfast.

My mom would make bacon for breakfast and the house would have that amazing smell, he said. I would eat it with French toast. I love the sweet and salty.

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Bacon pastries come to Chelsea