Bar-Mitzvah Celebration in Saint-Petersburg
Large-scale public Bar / Bat-Mitzvah celebration for city’s Jewish children took place in St.-Petersburg Grand Choral Synagogue May 21. The ceremony was attended by parents, community leaders and members. The thirteen-year-olds were publicly called to the Torah for an alyah, gave their Bar-mitzvah speech and got their Bar-Mitzvah presents from the Jewish community. The celebration was
held as final part of the city’s yearly “Bar-Mitzvah” project. The mission of the whole enterprise is to help city’s Jewish children who are coming of age get prepared for this meaningful event. The first stage of the project was a 3-day suburb “get-acquainted” seminar for children and parents. As the level of Jewish knowledge among Saint-Petersburg Jewry leaves much to be desired, the next step involved studying the basics of Judaism and Jewish practice. The recent celebration was conceived as a festive culmination of the whole project. Organizers note that throughout the project the Jewish awareness of the participants, most of whom come from secular background, has greatly increased.