Left – right: Parents Arnold & Sue Heller, Sasha
Heller, Grandparents Roz & Herman Auerbach
Wikipedia: Bar
is a Jewish Babylonian Aramaic word meaning son; bat means daughter;
mitzvah means commandment or law. The male achieves adult status at age thirteen, the
female at age twelve.
The Bar Mitzvah evolved over
the ages from a past simple affair to today’s candidate performing much of the
service and the family providing a huge celebration. Sue and I, two teachers, provided Sasha a nice modest Bar
Mitzvah in which family and friends came from near and far and all had a good
time.
My Bar Mitzvah in Newark, NJ – the North – was a simple
afternoon dinner and the family all lived within fifty miles of each other –
they came, they heard, they ate, they went home. Southern Jews had to take care of out of the town relatives
by organizing a weekend event that started with a Friday night dinner, in our
case, China Garden II which for forty years served good Chinese food – it is
now the Asian Café.
The parents and grandparents traditionally make speeches to
the Congregation to mark their child’s milestone. Below is my speech and Grandpa Herman Auerbach and mother
Sue Auerbach Heller’s speeches follow.
Front row: Cousin Carrie, Sue Heller, Sash Heller,
Grandma Jeanne Heller Polinsky.
Back Row: Bobbie Heller Polinsky, Arnold Heller, Brett
Polinsky, Craig Polinsky Arnold Polinsky, Harold and Marian Goldstein. Grandpa Herman Auerbach’s speech to
Sasha (below):
Mother Sue Heller’s speech to Sasha:
Bar Mitzvah weekend lineup of events:
Bar Mitzvah invitation for morning ceremony.
The reception followed that evening and the Marriott
catering team stepped up nicely.
The Run Show of the Friday night
service.
It’s a local Atlanta tradition to place an article in the
Atlanta Jewish Times to announce blessings to the community.
Rabbi Mark Zimmerman and Sasha holding the Torah. Sash did such a good job with his
portion of the service and his Haftorah reading that he surprised the
Rabbi. Good.
Please go on to Photo Album 6 – Arnold & Sue Heller:
Sasha’s Bar Mitzvah – Celebration.