Was Your Bar or Bat Mitzvah Postponed or Cancelled? Why Not Have a Virtual Ceremony?

by | Jul 23, 2020 | Bar Bat Mitzvah, Bar Bat Mitzvah Blog

Given the disruption caused by the coronavirus, Rabbi Barbara Aiello is offering families an individually designed Bar or Bat Mitzvah experience that incorporates tradition and technology to create a memorable celebration for families whose ceremonies have been disrupted by Covid-19.

The program is available to families around the world whose simcha was cancelled or postponed due to lockdown regulations or travel restrictions and best of all the program is designed so that your teen need NOT learn a new Torah portion different from the one they originally prepared.

Rabbi Barbara will work with your family to choose a lovely living room, family room or garden setting. Then, along with a family member or friend who will serve as “Virtual Gabbai,” she will work with her/him to organize the Zoom experience for participants who will read service selections or who will be honored with a virtual aliyah.

Thanks to the special Sephardic study blessing that will be offered in the service, your child will proceed with the verses already prepared. If you have access to a Torah scroll, Rabbi Barbara will help you set the scroll for the portion the student will be ready to read. If a Torah is not available, Rabbi Barbara will work with you to create a scroll with the appropriate verses and assist you in creating “sacred space” in your home.

In addition, Rabbi Barbara provides a beautifully designed Bar or Bat Mitzvah certificate to you son or daughter, mailed directly from Sinagoga Ner Tamid del Sud, in Italy and can be presented at the virtual service.

Your son or daughter, you and your family and friends can feel confident that the atmosphere will be joyful, relaxing, friendly and inclusive, filled with lovely Jewish traditions incorporated into a modern approach to the synagogue experience.

NOTE: We welcome children with special needs. Rabbi Barbara Aiello is a former special educator with years of experience adapting the Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation and ceremony to children with learning differences, including ADHD, Down syndrome, physical disabilities and children whose learning needs fall on the autism spectrum.

In fact when one teen who has autism concluded his reading of the transliterated Torah verse, he raised his arms in victory and shouted, to the claps and cheers of the congregation, “I’m a Bar Mitzvah!”

For detailed information on the VIRTUAL BAR/BAT MITZVAH PROGRAM with Rabbi Barbara Aiello including fees and available dates: Rabbi@RabbiBarbara.com

 

Testimonial: 
“Thank you so very much for the absolutely beautiful service yesterday. I cannot begin to tell you how many of our guests commented on the warmth and sincerity they felt through the  Zoom service. Having family and friends of different faiths and backgrounds, it was important to us to make everyone feel included. I could not have asked for a better officiant!”
LK and JK, parents of their Bat Mitzvah daughter