Bar Mitzvah near Gaza border proceeds joyously

By Dov Hartuv

Dov Hartuv

KIBBUTZ NAHAL OZ, Israe — Since the school bus leaving  Kibbutz Nahal Oz was fired on by a rocket killing a little boy, all busses have been banned from entering the kibbutz and  passengers are ferried to the main road by vans. Next week the new alternative five kilometer road will be opened and travelling will be back to normal.

The past month has been one of sporadic firing on settlements along the Gaza strip.

Just what caused this escalation is impossible to know.

Against this background the nine parents of the 12-13 year old kids on Nahal Oz decided to keep up the tradition and hold the combined barmitzvah festivities on the lawns of the kibbutz as planned.

During the year the children have undertaken tasks which prepare them for the cross over from childhood to  the responsibilities of
becoming young teenagers. They spent a day finding their way about in the “big city” – Tel Aviv. They prepared a meal for their family. They spent time with a religious family  etc.– and so they learnt through different ways what responsibility and civic duties meant.

The climax to the year’s activities was the party held to celebrate the event. Not the reading of the law and  Maftir in the synagogue as
that is a private family affair held at the nearby religious kibbutz on their 13th birthday.

This party and the events leading up to it are the “traditions” which have formed over the years on the kibbutz – just like the way we celebrate Shavuot or Succot.

My grandson Mor was one of the children this year and it was wonderful to see how excited he was as the time approached. His Mom and Dad had invited just over 100 family and friends to the buffet dinner which was held on one of our central lawns. Every family had their own party and after dinner all the hundreds of guests gathered to watch on stage the performance that the kids had produced. We were all so taken by their obvious enjoyment of singing and dancing in front of an audience.

To crown it all the whole evening passed without any incidents and though behind the scenes the military and those in charge of security were prepared for any eventuality the joyous occasion wasn’t marred in any way.

When I was a child we had a Mickey Katz record of a barmitzvah speech which started with “Today I ama fountain pen”. In those days  to own a
Parker 51 was the ambition of every thirteen year old. Today I suppose it would be “Today I am an IPod”

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Hartuv is San Diego Jewish World’s correspondent in Sha’ar Hanegev, the partnership region in Israel of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County