Posted on April 1, 2018
What a great joy it was to celebrate Charlie Niederman’s Bar Mitzvah on March 24, 2018 or 8th day of Nisan 5778 on Shabbat Hagadol. Some of you are aware that Jews can have second Bar or
Bat Mitzvah at the age of eighty three. This is because Psalms 90:10 states, “The span of our life is seventy years.” For those who live beyond seventy, it is as though they have second start on life and therefore thirteen years later one can have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
Larry Davidoff said afterwards that thankfully at 70 years and 8 days there isn’t a second Brit Milah, i.e., circumcision.
Joking aside, this is a real accomplishment. Charlie mentioned his uncle Fred had one and he was following in his footsteps. It’s no easy task to memorize verses from the Torah and it’s especially more challenging with age. However, Charlie did a good job chanting from the Torah and led the service beautifully with support from our Bnei Mitzvah educator, Larry Matalon.
Charlie Niederman is a great role model for so many of us. He is a past president of our synagogue and currently serves as the VP of Planning & Development. Charlie has been committed to our Brotherhood and Men of the Reform Judaism. He is active with the Union for Reform Judaism as well. Phew! He is a very busy man and he took the time to prepare for his Bar Mitzvah.
It felt especially nice doing it at the Lay Led Minyan. Every Saturday morning, a group of people come together to pray, debate, laugh, and celebrate Shabbat together at 9:00 a.m. It is very warm and welcoming. Some there are very knowledgeable and others are just at the beginning of their exploration into Judaism. It’s something everyone at Temple Beth David should experience and it felt right celebrating Charlie’s Bar Mitzvah that morning.
And afterwards, we had a delightful brunch that Cathy Niederman arranged. It was a wonderful Shabbat!