Involve Israel In Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah

There are many ways you can include Israel in your Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony or celebration.  Doing so can serve a number of purposes, including helping Israeli businesses by buying their products, financially supporting Israel itself by donating to Israeli causes or investing in it, and reminding the Bar or Bat Mitzvah child and his/her friends and the other celebrants about Israel’s importance in our lives.  Here are some suggestions:

1.            Use Jewish National Fund “tree” or “water” certificates as invitations, seating place cards, or thank you notes.  Invitations are expensive as is; you can do something socially beneficial with the money and have unique, attractive invitations too.  They can be purchased in quantities at a discount. 

         Web site: http://www.jnf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=simcha

2.      Use seating place cards from a charitable organization in Israel.  For example, Meir Panim, which runs soup kitchens, delivers meals to the homebound, and otherwise helps the poor and hungry in Israel, will supply you with place cards that say “In honor of your presence at our Simcha, a donation has been made to Meir Panim, feeding the hungry in Israel”.  Web site: www.meirpanim.org (Click on “Support us”).

3.      Celebrate your child’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah on an Israeli trip with Masorti (conservative) congregation Kehilat Ya’ar Ramot.  Contact Rabbi Steinlauf for more information.

4.            Twin your child with a special needs child in Israel with Operation Mazal Tov.  Operation Mazal Tov is the joint project of the Masorti Foundation and the Cantors Assembly to enable American B’nei Mitzvah to twin with one of the Israeli children with special needs in the program.  Each year, more than 300 Israeli children with special needs celebrate their B’nei Mitzvah as a result of the curriculum, teacher training, and student preparation brought to Israeli classrooms through Masorti efforts.  Web site: http://www.masorti.org/programs/specialneeds4.html

5.      Buy the Bar or Bat Mitzvah’s tallit from an Israeli manufacturer.  Israeli-made tallit can be purchased locally at:

·        The Temple Israel Gift Shop

·        Judaica House, 412 Cedar Lane, Teaneck, 201 907 0034

·        Zoldan’s Judaica Center, 478 Cedar Lane, Teaneck, 201 801 9001

·        Eichler’s, 62 W. 45^th Street, New York, 212 719 1918

·        Judaica Experience, 226 W. 72^nd Street, New York 212 724 2424

or ordered online from a number of the merchants listed at

http://www.shopinisrael.com/shopping.cgi?cat=barmitzvahplanning

6.      Order Israeli-made kippot for the service and celebration, from any of the sources in item 5.

7.      In addition to tallitot, The Temple Israel Gift Shop carries Israeli-made gift items, such as jewelry, tzdakah boxes, and mezuzot.

8.      Use Israeli snacks, foods, and drinks at your Oneg Shabbat, Kiddush, or party, or put them in “goody bags” that you give to celebrants.  Packaged Israeli foods are available locally at Food Showcase on Fair Lawn Ave in Fair Lawn and at International Foods Warehouse on Route 17 North in Lodi.  Most Kosher caterers can also include a selection of fresh Israeli foods in your simcha menu; just ask them.

9.      Use Israel or some aspect of Israel as the “theme” of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration or in decorating the room.

10.    Write to the Prime Minister or President of Israel or some other famous Israeli to ask them to send a “mazal tov” to the Bar or Bat Mitzvah and read it at the celebration.

11.    Give Israel Bonds (available in $100 “Mazal Tov” Certificates) to friends of your family or children who are having a Bar/Bat Mitzvah.  They earn a fully competitive interest rate and mature in 5 years, just in time to use for college!  (And if you give these to others, maybe others will give them to your children.).  Web site: www.IsraelBonds.com.  The office that services our area is Livingston, NJ, telephone number 800 404-3235.

12.    The Shop In Israel Web site has a wealth of suggestions for purchasing Israeli-made goods online for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah: 

         http://www.shopinisrael.com/shopping.cgi?cat=barmitzvahplanning

13.    Donate a portion of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah gifts to a worthy cause or institution in Israel and/or or encourage your guests to do so.  Here is one suggestion, a children’s hospital in Israel:  http://www.schneider.org.il/Eng/Index.asp?CategoryID=97&ArticleID=39

14.    Make something about Israel the focus of, or a topic in, your Bar/Bat Mitzvah speech.

15.    Plan a family trip to Israel.

This list will be updated from time to time.  It is accessible at the Israel Action Committee’s Web page on the Temple Israel Web site, at http://xweb.synagogue.org/israelaction/israelaction.htm .