Nursing home celebrates Bar and Bat Mitzvahs at 70
Do you remember your Bar or Bat Mitzvah? Maurice Minski does. Just hours into the 13-year-old’s coming of age celebration, Nazis invaded his town, taking his parents away, never to be seen again.
Now nearly 70 years later, Minski has had his second Bar Mitzvah as Jewish Care Victoria hosted a special Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremony for approximately 75 of its aged care residents who hadn't yet celebrated this milestone.
Over 300 people attended the coming of age ceremony. The festivities included a synagogue service with candles, singing, dancing and a brunch.
Believed to be the first ceremony of its kind in Australia, the Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration was held because many of Jewish Care's residents missed out on this significant life event due to reasons such as living through times of war and communist rule.
Rabbi Nerenberg, from Jewish Care's Caulfield facility, said the oldest resident to attend the ceremony was 99 years old, and most were Holocaust survivors or had fled Europe as the war broke out. He also described the event as "meaningful and moving."
"It's never too late to celebrate," said Rabbi Kohn, one of the event's organisers and we couldn’t agree more.
Related links:
Grandmother retires after 52 years walking kids to school
9-year-old raises $100,000 for sick kids
Wonderful moment newborn twins meet for the first time