My Bar Mitzvah

                                                 

In June, 1944, when I was 13, I had my Bar Mitzvah
The traditional rite of passage by which Jewish manhood was gained
Girls had a Bat Mitzvah, at age 12,
Reflecting their more advanced development, which I think they always maintained

In any event the bar mitzvah went smoothly, except for two somewhat quirky events

One during the actual bar mitzvah rite
And one at the Presidential Hall
The post bar mitzvah celebration site

By way of background, you need to understand
That Shaari Israel, the temple my family attended
Had mostly conservative members who took a somewhat relaxed religious approach
But with a sprinkling of orthodox Jews who believed the bible did not need to be amended

The conservatives sat with their wives or other women companions

The orthodox believed women should be segregated, and not join the company of any male
The conservatives would drive to the temple, leaving their cars a few blocks away
The orthodox believed if they drove to the temple, their strict standards they would fail

An important part of the bar mitzvah rite

Was the reading of a biblical selection
Only to make this passage, which was in Hebrew, doable for me
My instructor had cut out 4 substantial sections

As soon as I passed through the first deletion
The Orthodox Jews, sitting together in the first few rows, rose to their feet, then did next
Raise their voices to crescendo level, and expressed great indignation
Very clearly protesting my omission of biblical text

My courage was shaken, but somewhat restored

As the attack on me was by voice and gesticulation
So I concentrated on the task at hand
And continued my chopped up recitation

And three times more the orthodox protested loudly

As I ploughed through my biblical omissions, doing the best I could
I read all the parts on my schedule
And when it was all over, I felt I had dealt with the situation, as any man would

The next quirky event on my Bar Mitzvah day
Took place at The Presidential Hall
Where friends and family gathered
To celebrate it all

During that time, with the war still going on

Good liquor was very hard to buy
My father, a wine salesman, who knew many liquor store owners
During the year prior to my Bar Mitzvah, had accumulated a good supply

So we had an open bar, where our some hundred quests

Had many scarce items from which they could choose
However, there was a party that night on a separate floor, who became aware of our bonanza
And crashed our party to drink up our precious booze

My father quickly formed a flying squad of our beefiest relatives and guests

To eject those drinkers who were not invited to our floor
My mother accompanied him, and between the two, they could recognize virtually every one legitimately present
And the many intruders were quickly ushered out the door

To insure there were no further intrusions

A few members of our flying squad remained by the bar to check if anyone came along
In an attempt to drink from our precious liquor supply
by someone who didn’t belong

So all in all, an exciting night

Going well beyond the expected
Conservative Jews expressing strong disapproval
And liquor seeking intruders who had to be ejected