In Israel, as in most places, the school year ends with celebrations and graduations. No one takes having a full school year for granted after the many interruptions of the COVID period.
At Hadassah’s Meir Shfeyah Youth Aliyah Village, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah “plus” ceremony took place as the culmination of the Joy of Judaism Program supported by the family of Jim and Joanne Smith of Minnesota and the late Lois Green of New Jersey.
Twelve girls and 16 boys took part in the coming-of-age ceremonies. The majority were from Ukraine and Russia, but there were also two teens from Ethiopia, one from France, another from South Korea, two native-born Israeli Jews and three Muslim Bedouins. The ebullient group studied Torah and Jewish traditions and discussed challenges of adolescence under the guidance of Dr. Etti Serok and her husband, Rabbi Israel Serok. Because of the diversity of the teens’ backgrounds, the program was broadened to include coming-of-age ceremonies for all. The Jewish children received tallitot, tefillin and candlesticks while the Bedouins received Korans and the Korean teen, who is Christian, received a Christian Bible. The program, called 13 Steps to Matriculation, included 13 tasks of volunteering and contributing to the community, as well as leading a village-wide Shabbat. During a visit to Jerusalem, the teens toured the Abbell Synagogue with its Chagall windows at Hadassah Ein Kerem and attended a meeting at the Knesset.