My great niece Rebecca Sandvos celebrated her bat mitzvah last Saturday morning, December 19, at the Congregation Shir Tikvah in Winchester, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Rebecca, who likes to be called Becki (and spell it that way), was named for my mother, Rebecca.
Becki is the daughter of my niece Elissa Ely and her husband Jay Sandvos, who live in another piece of Boston suburbia, Belmont. Becki was surrounded by grandparents and friends and relatives from near and far.
With no coercion, Becki chose to undertake the considerable preparation necessary for her bat mitzvah (whch, unlike old days when the ceremony was restricted to boys, includes girls now as well). She recited the week's portion of the Torah, then, for the first time, carried the Torah aloft around the sanctuary and delivered her own brief sermon. After the service, attendees enjoyed a lunch in the synagogue.
In the evening, Elissa and Jay hosted a dinner dance at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Waltham, yet one more Boston suburb, where many out-of-town guests were staying. Becki had invited some 30 girl friends, plus 3 boys, and in all 100 people enjoyed loud music and great food. Using their family connection to the Almighty, a major snowstorm waited until after midnight, when the party had ended.
The next morning some family members gathered at Jay and Elissa's house for a traditional Sunday brunch while Jay undertook snow clearing outside. Finally, out-of-town guests packed up to leave for home, grateful for a wonderful weekend and for being part of an honored Jewish tradition.
The overall topic of this blog is living alone, so how did I feel about being perhaps the only ongoing unattached adult (plus one of the few gay men) there for the weekend? I have of course experienced that before--anyone in my situation past a certain age surely has. But I have been part of my niece Elissa's life since she was born--we are very close--and I was glad to attend, even single. For years I've had "Uncle Stanley" on my name tag as provided long ago by Elissa and her sister Marcia, and I was glad to attend as Uncle.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I was there, too, at this wonderful event, and everything Stanley wrote is true. I would add only one important fact: that the loud music he mentions was not to be heard during the actual dinner hour, which is a rare and good thing -- one of many good things at Becki's bat mitzvah.
It was a wonderful time that would not have been complete without your presence. Isn't it interesting how Becki's experience as a 13 year old was so very different from yours and mine? I guess that that is exactly one of the purposes of such events--to prod us into self-reflection.
Cheers and thanks,
Post a Comment