David Neuwirth, a resident of the Jewish Home Assisted Living in River Vale, decided to celebrate his 83rd birthday with a second bar mitzvah. He was inspired by his daughter’s Rabbi in Vermont, Rabbi Robert Freedman, who said, “there’s a Torah portion that says ‘if you’re lucky enough to reach your 70th birthday, you’re reborn.’ And 13 years later, you can have a bar mitzvah.”
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On Saturday, December 5, 2009, David and his wife Minnie who have lived at JHAL since September 2007, invited their family and friends to join them at a Shabbat service that was conducted by Rabbi Freedman, now living in the Princeton area, followed by a Kiddush luncheon. (Rabbi Freedman also conducted the bat mitzvah ceremonies for two of the Neuwirths’ granddaughters who live in Vermont.) The entire event took place at JHAL – the service in JHAL’s theater/chapel, followed by a lunch for fifty prepared by Jean Duraseau, JHAL’s gourmet chef.
David’s first bar mitzvah took place at Lincoln Place Synagogue in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in 1939, attended by about 100 guests. In those days, he said, the custom was to have a little Kiddush after the service and in the evening, a catered affair. It was not very elaborate, but he remembers a three-piece band and that he had to give a speech.
For David, his family and everyone at JHAL, his second bar mitzvah was a memorable event, capping one of many religious observances that are an important part of his life.
Mazel Tov, David!