Bar Mitzvah Marks Milestone

Atlanta, GA — Like many teenage boys, Jake Silverstein enjoys sports and video games.

But when he turned 13 this month, Jake became a young man under Jewish law. The DeKalb County teen was feted with a series of dinners and parties to celebrate his coming of age, or bar mitzvah.

“This is one of the most major events in a Jewish person’s life, other than marriage or birth,” said Debbie Silverstein, Jake’s mother.

Jewish law does not require young children to obey the mitzvoths, or commandments. When a boy turns 13, he is considered old enough for bar mitzvah.

In modern times, many families celebrate with receptions or parties that can be as elaborate as weddings.

For the Silversteins, coming-of-age celebrations are a family tradition. Jake’s paternal grandfather and great-grandfather both had bar mitzvah ceremonies. Jake’s parents say the events they staged for their elder son are good practice for the joint bar mitzvah they plan for their twins, Hayley and Kevin, who turn 13 in two years.

Jake’s celebration began this past Saturday at Chabad Intown on Ponce de Leon Avenue. The Atlanta-based Chabad centers serve the 100,000-member Atlanta Jewish community, offering pre-schools, summer day camps, Hebrew schools and mikvahs — pools of water used in purification ceremonies — all over Georgia.

A sixth-grader at St. Francis Middle School in Roswell, Jake described his bar mitzvah ritual as something important to him. He admitted being a little nervous at the two-hour Saturday ceremony because, he said, he’s “not used to talking in front of a lot of people.”

During the service, Jake read from the Torah, a written scroll of the five books of the Jewish Bible, and Haftorah, which contains text from Jewish prophets or scriptures.

Over his dress shirt, tie and blazer, Jake draped a tallit — or prayer shawl — around his shoulders, a gift from his maternal grandparents, who purchased it in Israel before Jake was born. As part of the weekend’s activities, his parents hosted a Friday night dinner with family at their North Druid Hills area home; lunch and dinner on Saturday and the carefully planned Sunday party at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on Briarcliff Road.