The Success of our Son's Bar Mitzvah
By: Beth Levow and David Feit
We thank Temple Emanu-El for the huge, coordinated effort to help make our son's recent Bar
Mitzvah a special moment and true success! Without the dedicated time, guidance and
encouragement of the Temple staff, our son could not have accomplished all that he did on his
Bar Mitzvah day. Cantor Mayer supported our son in reading three Aliyot and leading Ashrei.
Rabbi Franklin had many discussions about G-d and Judaism with our son and has encouraged
him to continue learning and questioning. Rabbi Babchuck provided ongoing support and
encouragement, not only with his D'var Torah, but through weekly Sunday discussions, which he
really enjoyed. Miriam Abrams-Stark (Director of Congregational Learning), deserves all the
credit for our child attending Religious School. Paul Stouber (Ritual Director) deserves praise
for teaching us the ins and outs of Bar Mitzvah preparation. Gershon Levine (Executive
Director) set up the live stream video camera so that our Aunt and Uncle in New York could
Kvell, sing, stand, and sit in real-time. The administrative assistants were very wonderful and
helpful with all the phone calls and coordination they had to traffic. Multiple guests mentioned
how impressed they were with the warmth and dynamism/ vitality that they experienced.
Many thanks to Temple Emanu-El for this! The Bar Mitzvah was a true mitzvah! Our shul is a
special place and we are so thankful for that!