"Ya'amod HaBar Mitzvah Shmuel ben Shoshana!"

On October 2, 2021 (a date that Tony and I will not soon forget because of all the hype and planning leading up to it), after months and months of practice (like this below), Samuel became a Bar Mitzvah!

He began meeting with his tutor Jason back in April and they met weekly--entirely on Zoom--until the end of September! Quite a commitment!

In the meanwhile, Tony and I were busy planning the details of his big day...location, caterer, DJ, party favors, you name it! And all with the pandemic in mind. We stressed about safety, so we looked for outdoor options whenever possible and we knew that a lot of friends and family would not be able to make the trip, so we incorporated Zoom. We made the best of it!

Two days before, Gammy, Granddaddy Rob, Auntie B, Nonno and Nonna arrived. We had our favorite linguine and clams Thursday night dinner together. We ate out on the deck where we gobbled down our pasta and buckeyes. It was delicious, as always, and gone before we could snap a pic!

One day before, Uncle Fred arrived from Virginia! We really appreciated his effort to join us for the weekend! We had fun catching up and enjoyed lunch out on the deck...

That night, we had a scrumptious dinner at Montgomery Inn. When in Rome (I mean, Montgomery)!! We ate in the Reds Room. It had lots of cool memorabilia. 

Samuel next to Pete Rose.

Energized for tomorrow! 

And then it was the big day! Time to get all dressed up!

We surprised Samuel with one of his party favors: sugar cookies in his likeness! 😍

And then we drove over to Rockdale, so he could warm up. Way back when, we intentionally looked at Saturdays in October (rather than Samuel's birth month of December), so that our family would not have to potentially travel in the snow. Little did we know that there would be a pandemic and that we'd be so fortunate to be able to celebrate outdoors. As you can see, it was a glorious morning and being out in the tent was absolutely lovely. 

Samuel was eager to practice a bit...

Greet his friends...

And welcome our guests! (Brie's suit has a fun story. We went to Macy's to buy a navy suit for Samuel and she declared that she wanted the same one in pink. And wouldn't you know it? There was one blazer and one pair of pants left in a pink linen and they fit her PERFECTLY. She picked out a Superman t-shirt to go under it and Auntie B supplied the floral pin she wore. The Carolina blue yarmulke was a last-minute addition. 😊)

Sebastian and Brie helped us set up!

Members of Samuel's religious school class!

We also took family photos before the service. A huge thank you to my good friend Christine* for being our photographer that day! 

Big family pic with the Bar Mitzvah boy! 

Then the five of us!

And our favorite trio!

Heading back to the tent with Granddaddy Rob. 💙

Then our friends and family near and far started logging onto Zoom. It was wonderful to see the names populate...family on the east coast, besties on the west, Marv, Barb and my cousins in Australia. It was pretty magical!

Samuel started the service with his clarinet! 

He played, "Hinei Ma Tov," which is Hebrew for "How sweet it is that we can be together." Perfect for an outdoor, pandemic celebration!

As a Bar Mitzvah, you lead the worship service for the first time. Samuel was ready!

All four grandparents came up and Rabbi Kahan talked about all of the special things that Samuel has gotten from both sides of our family. 💗

Brie and Sebastian got to open the ark...

And help with the Torah...

Which Gammy passed to me and I passed to Samuel.

He then walked it around the congregation--at first, like lightning...

but then he slowed down.

Ready to read Torah! This was Samuel during the whole service. Well-prepared and enthusiastic, yet calm!

Before each of Samuel's seven aliyot (sections of Torah), a different family member or close friend would kick it off for him. I'm pretty sure this photo was taken when we could hear our family in Australia on Zoom. It was emotional and amazing! 

Here are Aunt Barb and Uncle Marvin participating on Zoom.

And Cousin Paul! (Josh participated, too, and Joel was Zoomed in, as well. So much love from afar!)

Then Samuel would chant part of his Torah reading in Hebrew.

After each section of Torah, a family member or friend would read the English translation. Here's Nonna reading hers!

Aunt Diane Zoomed in with her family and participated, as well! 

It was especially thrilling for me to hear the Rabbi announce, "Ya'amod HaBar Mitzvah Shmuel ben Shoshana!" This means that Shmuel (Samuel), son of Shoshana (that's my Hebrew name) is now called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah! So exciting!

Samuel also delivered a D'var Torah...his interpretation of and lessons on what he had just read in Hebrew. He had a lot of thoughts about his piece and was eager to speak about it. 

See the hands? He was into it!

We heard from a lot of people that they really Samuel's thoughtful exegesis!

When the B'nei Mitzvah child finishes, someone has the honor of raising the Torah up for people to see what s/he read in Hebrew. Granddaddy Rob did an excellent job of the Hagbah--the lifting of the Torah! Can you see how thin the scroll is on the right side? That's because Samuel was the very first entry of the Torah, which is B'reishit (Genesis)...pretty amazing!

Putting the Torah back and last words! 

Yasher koach! Well done! 

Then Tony and I read a speech that we had written to Samuel. We took the time to really praise him for his hard work--he never once complained about Bar Mitzvah practicing! And it was emotional; he carries on the name (both in English and in Hebrew) of my beloved Granddady Sam...and he's the first male in our family to have a Bar Mitzvah in America since 1960! We also shared things about his personality, like how he was born a foodie and has the perfect organizational skills to be a successful Bar Mitzvah boy. He got a big kick out of it!

Then it was over and we ate lunch! Bagels, sushi and cookies were on the menu! 

Here are Samuel and his Bar Mitzvah tutor Jason chatting about the service. Awesome job!

After lunch, we had the afternoon to relax and have some downtime. Truthfully, the morning went so beautifully that I think we would have been happy to stop right there. Everyone was so immensely proud of Samuel and thrilled with our feat of technology acrobatics that we could have ended there and declared, "Job well done!" BUT...we had a party to attend! 

We spiffied up and headed down to the Ohio River a little before dinnertime and started to set up! We reused our beautiful flowers and put out the personalized hand sanitizer (the other surprise party favor)!

Excited to party!

The guest of honor in the sculpture garden!

Another great family pic!

Welcome to T.M. Berry Friendship Park!

The prize table! I had fun scouting out cool prizes at 5 Below and Dollar Tree. We had everything from LED toothbrush holders to Baby Yoda hats!

Let the games begin! 

And the appetizers! We had stuffed strawberries, chicken and waffle skewers and Cincinnati chili bites. Yum! 

Group pic of the kids!!

Then we had a few heartfelt speeches...

Watched the slide show that I made, which was WONDERFUL! (But a lot of work. Wow, did I need a break from technology after making this! Ha!)

And then ate dinner!! Since it's October and Samuel loves Thanksgiving, we picked out a menu of carved turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and much more. It was all delicious! 

Then we partied some more!!

We even danced the Hora, which was NOT Samuel's favorite thing ever and I probably should have consulted him before raising him up in an armless chair. 😬 He was a bit traumatized afterward, but luckily bounced back for more fun!

We had one isolated, brief rain shower that night, which did move the festivities inside. But we kept all the doors open and the kids were awesome about masks. We definitely tried our utmost to keep everyone safe and comfortable given the circumstances. 

Brownie sundaes for dessert!

Selfie with Josh and Christine*!

More fun!!

They also played a fun trivia game to see who knows Samuel the best. There might have been some ringers in the crowd!

Throughout the party, people could text in their photos and the DJ made a running slide show. Here are some of the pics. You can tell which ones the kids sent in. 😉

Our next-door neighbors Janet and Jimmy participated in Samuel's service and celebrated with us that evening. Jimmy grew up at our temple, so it was a lovely full-circle moment!

And then we capped off the night with an EPIC game of Musical Chairs...

Which the kids really got into. Look at Brie literally jumping for joy? In a battle to the end, she beat Samuel's friend Sammy. It was great fun to watch! 

All in all, it was a spectacular day. We left with full hearts and tummies. We crashed that night!

And then we woke up to have a yummy brunch with family. It was the best! 

Samuel opened all of his cards and gifts afterward. That was fun, too! 

This particular card really us smile...a combination of Italian and Hebrew!!

We have received countless kind emails, texts and comments from people who attended Samuel's Bar Mitzvah, both in-person and remotely, to say how special it felt. We felt it, too. It was a wonderful celebration and a day of happiness. We're still brimming with joy and pride. He did it!!

P.S. Samuel collected personal care items for Matthew 25: Ministries, a local non-profit that does great things for disaster relief/aid, for his Mitzvah Project. (He volunteered there multiple times in elementary school and really liked it.) His drive was very successful and last weekend we took six full boxes of toiletries to them!