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Colel Chabad Hosts Mass Bar Mitzvah for 110 Boys

by Joshua Runyan – Chabad.org

Jerusalem’s Western Wall plaza erupted in celebration last week as 110 boys from needy families were called to the Torah as part of a mass Bar Mitzvah ceremony coordinated by Colel Chabad.

Founded in the 18th century by the First Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the social service organization distributes tons of food to poor and elderly Israelis each year. It also arranges Bar Mitzvahs for needy children, sponsoring the mass ceremony before each anniversary of the birth of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.

According to Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Zalman Duchman, program director at Colel Chabad, each of the boys received their own prayer shawl and set of prayer boxes known as tefillin.

After the ceremony, a delegation of 13 boys met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. A dinner that night at Jerusalem’s International Conference Center attracted 1,500 people.

Tables and chairs for 1,500 people stood ready at Jerusalem’s International Conference Center for a party celebrating the mass Bar Mitzvah of 110 boys from needy families coordinated by Colel Chabad.
According to Rabbi Zalman Duchman, program director at Colel Chabad, each of the boys received their own prayer shawl and set of prayer boxes known as tefillin.
As each boy was called to one of several Torahs set up at the Western Wall plaza, family and friends cheered them on.
An elegant dinner awaited the boys, their families and supporters at Jerusalem’s International Conference Center.
Israeli Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, right, attended the party.
Israeli Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar took part in the celebration.
The Bar Mitzvah boys danced the night away.

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