A Bar Mitzvah and a Slide Show

 


These are separate topics. This is mostly just to show the final slide show from my 4 months in Israel, but one quick final story. On our very last day, a longtime friend of mine, Alex Lubarsky, who goes back to elementary school, even, as well as BBYO, asked me to officiate at his son's Bar Mitzvah at the egalitarian section of the Western Wall. It was an honor to do so, and it was a beautiful occasion.

Getting there was something else. The first part is mostly a story for another time, but let me just say that the official Conservative/Masorti movement in Israel, of which I am a dues paying part of and who manages the egalitarian site, was the complete opposite of helpful. So it took a wild goose chase for me to find a Torah (thank you Congregation Maayanot) and Siddurim, Prayerbooks (thank you Israel Maven Tour Company). These were very far away from my residence and the Wall, and it was massively inconvenient. But the last part of the journey was something else.

It was a 40 minute walk with the Torah. I know I should have just taken a taxi, but well, I pride myself on walking everywhere, even in the intense heat of the day. So I walked the 40 minutes to the wall with the Torah "shielded" by a tallit and black garbage bags. Still, people could tell by the way I was carrying it what it was, so people of all religious levels would stop and kiss it--secular Israelis, 5 year old Yeshiva boys, and an entire senior women's fitness class. It was really something else. It was as if the Torah had a camera attached to it, and its journey was documenting all the many types of people in Israel. Despite the turmoil here, it turns out the final message is that everyone honors and values the Torah!

And now, the slideshow.

https://youtu.be/gWGMBqLOriI


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