On a toasty Friday afternoon in a Reseda courtyard, nine people gathered with broad smiles on their faces, decked out in their prayer shawls and yarmulkes, looking out at family members and close friends from all over the world. The males would celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs, and the females would celebrate their Bat Mitzvahs.
Rabbi Karen Bender presided, playing traditional Hebrew tunes on her guitar and singing along with the crowd.
Earlier, she had explained why the ceremony is so important to people of Jewish faith.
“Once you’ve reached the age of 13, you’re mature enough to take responsibility for your own actions,” she said.
But the nine honorees were nowhere near 13, and mature doesn’t even begin to describe them with their ages ranging from 76 to 98.
They are all residents of LA Jewish Health, a non-profit providing senior healthcare services on a huge campus located at Sherman Way and Tampa Avenue.
“I’m 89,” said a beaming Richard Zelle from his wheelchair. Seventy-six years ago, he was 13 years old and had studied hard for his Bar Mitzvah, but when the big day arrived, his beloved grandfather suffered a heart attack. The ceremony was canceled so he could be with him at the hospital.
“He had just come to accept, ’I guess I’ll never get a Bar Mitzvah,’” said Rabbi Bender.
“There are many times in my life,” Zelle said with a sigh, “I had to fight to be Jewish. I didn’t want to end my years without having this to take with me.”
Sherie Goodman, now 76, missed her Bat Mitzvah for a different kind of reason.
“I was told it was only for boys,” she said.
As the years passed, she deeply envied the males in her life as they studied for their Bar Mitzvahs.
“I used to listen to my brother by the door so I could start learning some of the Hebrew and some of the prayers.”
She admitted that she even did so when her own sons were training for their Mitzvahs and practicing their speeches and quotes from the Torah, the holy text of Judaism.
But now, the times have changed for devout women like Sherie who yearn to celebrate their rites of passage to adulthood; and Richard jumped at the chance to experience it when Bender offered do-overs in 2025.
The Rabbi’s only condition was that the nine seniors in the class work as hard as possible to learn key passages from the Torah and to reflect on its mitzvahs or commandments to be good citizens, do good deeds and take care of others – a process that 8th graders typically begin taking a year before their ceremonies are held.
By all indications, the nine seniors received their blessings and prayers and can now say they’ve matured into adulthood.
“It’s a great gift!” said Zelle.