Etz Chaim Adult B’nai Mitzvah Fulfilled
1 By Marcia Caller Jaffe
After a year’s pause, 10 dedicated b’nai mitzvah adults realized their dreams of completing a live ceremony. On April 17, limited family members attended socially distanced and in person on the bimah, while others watched online. One of the early COVID stalls, the original ceremony was scheduled for April 2020. Throughout the past year, the group continued to meet with Rabbi Daniel Dorsch, each other and their tutors to keep their skills, learning and passion stoked. The celebrants at the recent service were Susan ShapiroATLANTA JEWISH TIMES
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McCarthy, Steven Caras, Marisa Gewertz, Jay Schwartz, Allison Barchichat, Galina Barshay, Helen Ehrlich, Lynne Goldman Johannesen, Lance and Tamar England. Each brought a family member or friend to recite the familiar blessings before and after their part. “Waiting an extra year for the BIG day was, of course, at first, a bit of a disappointment, said tutor Beverly Barnhard. “However, as the additional stretch passed by, our class realized that they had received the gift of time to up their game! That guided us to an incredible performance by all! The congregants could feel how meaningful and purposeful that morning
was for the class! In the end, it was worth the wait; we were all so proud of them for achieving their lifelong goal so beautifully.” In a letter to the group, Dorsch stated, “Our celebration together marks the culmination of over two years of study. Like the great sage Rabbi Akiva who famously began to learn Torah in his 40s, many of you started by learning the Aleph Bet. Others began by learning Torah cantillation, or the meaning behind the prayers. Together, all of us immersed ourselves in two years of text study with Melton, where we learned about the purposes behind so many of the Jewish practices and beliefs that we hold.
“Then most significantly, when the virus hit, you persevered. You continued to check in with one another virtually throughout the year. Clearly evident is that your learning together brought you together as a micro-community within our synagogue. Your resiliency is a lesson about the power of Torah to connect people together in challenging times. ….This Shabbat, as we celebrate together, we recall the words of the sage Ben Bag Bag who famously encouraged his students to ‘turn it over and turn it over again, for everything is in it.’ ” During the ceremony, Dorsch spoke of Rabbi Chanina and Rabbi Chiya, who debated
