Late Bar and Bat Mitzvah for dozens of Holocaust survivors at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

70 years late: Bar and Bat Mitzvah late and extremely moving
to dozens of Holocaust survivors at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

By: the news reporter of the site "Hai Fe"
who accompanied the bar and bat mitzvah bus at the Western Wall and the Knesset Tabernacle in Jerusalem / special and exclusive coverage for the website "Hai Pe

The association "Yad Ezer Heber" headed by the founder and CEO of the association Mr. Shimon Sabag who came up with the whole idea, worked hard for several months, initiated and produced and held an extraordinary and exciting event for the Holocaust survivors who live in the association's "Warm Home for Holocaust Survivors" in Kiryat Hesed, on Kessel Street in Haifa.
Dozens of Holocaust survivors celebrated this week, on Monday July 13.7.2015, XNUMX, a late Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration at the Western Wall in Jerusalem in the presence of the Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi David Lau, Rabbi of the Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz and Member of Knesset Yair Lapid, members of Knesset and many other guests.
The colorful and unusual event was initiated, produced and organized by the association "Yad Ezer Shevre" for the benefit of the survivors, who were denied the bar and bat mitzvah celebration in their childhood due to the Nazi oppressor during the Holocaust.

The event began in the morning with an organized march that left the association's compound on Kassel Street in Haifa, the Holocaust survivors, 16 male bar mitzvah grooms and 14 female bar mitzvah brides, accompanied by several dozen other Holocaust survivors from the "Warm House for Holocaust Survivors" and from around the country who came especially for the event straight to the Western Wall plaza, a remnant Our temple.
Already at the entrance to Jerusalem, two vehicles of the Jerusalem Police were waiting for the celebrants, which after a courtesy led the delegation, which included two buses, to the Western Wall complex.
The buses arrived within a few meters of the stone plaza of the Western Wall, where they were already awaited by Knesset Member and former Minister of Finance Yair Lapid, the Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi David Lau, many public figures, Holocaust survivors from all over the country, the people of the Rabbi of the Western Wall and the Rabbi of the Western Wall himself, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz led the bride and groom for a special ceremony in which the bride and groom were presented with fancy tefillin and tallit. The brides received shawls and were escorted to the women's compound and watched the bar mitzvah ceremony which was performed by the two rabbis.
Yair Lapid, who was present throughout the course of the event, was honored with the mitzvot of establishing a Torah book. The staff of the Rabbi of the Western Wall broke into a mighty song together with the chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau.

Waiting next to the two rabbis was the man and spiritual patron of the association, MK Yair Lapid, who has accompanied the association for years. For example, the main building of the association in the Hadar neighborhood in Haifa, was named after his late father Yosef (Tommy) Lapid.

The celebration reached its climax with the release of the Torah book and the Holocaust survivors each taking their turn to the Torah, putting on tefillin and raising a Torah book to the sound of tremendous singing by the survivors.
When the entire large crowd present at the event throws candies at them.
Tears of excitement flooded the Western Wall plaza, there is not a person on the Western Wall plaza among the hundreds who gathered around the survivors who did not shed a tear of excitement. "I have already seen exciting events at the Western Wall, the light and darkness are used in this event in a mixture, but the hope is absolute. And here there is tangible evidence of the true victory of the Jewish people, this was undoubtedly an extraordinary event," said the Rabbi of the Western Wall at the end of the event.

The founder and CEO of the association, Mr. Shimon Sabag, who gave each bar mitzvah groom a tallit, tefillin and kippah as befits bar mitzvah grooms, said at the beginning of the ceremony: "We have done many events like this in the past, but this time it was the highlight of the association since its establishment about two decades ago. We celebrated the Bar Mitzvah survivors because they deserve to close this circle."

As mentioned, the only person who made it all the way to the Wall was MK Yair Lapid who arrived, participated and stayed throughout the ceremony, paying great respect to the event, honoring the Holocaust survivors and honoring the Knesset by his very presence. One person who was moved by the gesture was Mrs. Chaya Caspi, 82 years old, who celebrated her Bat Mitzvah late on 70 years. "Right now I don't have many words, because I'm very excited. To hear Rabbi Lau bless us at the Western Wall, it was a very moving moment that will leave a wonderful memory for my life, and later for my children and grandchildren." Casspi, born in Romania, immigrated to Israel in 1948, and when she turned 12, the Bat Mitzvah celebration was denied to her. "Nobody was able to think then For such an event, people were killed and murdered near us, so why would they think of a Bat Mitzvah or Bar Mitzvah for someone."

87-year-old Jacob Waldman was one of the Bar Mitzvah grooms, at the age of 13 he was a boy in Poland. "I remember this time, we went around with the family and looked for places to hide, just to hide, to run away. Who thought of a bar mitzvah. When the war ended and we managed to survive, everything around us was destroyed - and even then no one had a head for a bar mitzvah. Those who went through this hell did not He was able to celebrate." Waldman, who was the third to ascend to the Torah, called that moment one of the happiest in his life. "I said Kaddish and blessed the entire nation of Israel, also for the people who did not celebrate and will not celebrate anymore, who are not here with us today, the members of our families."

Usually the bar mitzvah event is small, but this time Sebag decided to go big. "We went for a big event to give them the opportunity to close the circle, if the Nazi oppressor robbed them of their youth, then today's ceremony is a symbol that their plan was not successful.

MK Yair Lapid told the survivors about his father who stayed in the ghetto at the age of 13 and he didn't get to perform his Bar Mitzvah ceremony either. And his mother - my grandmother - called him to her and said to him, "Tomika, today you have a bar mitzvah. Your father will not come to a bar mitzvah and I think he will never come again. And I cannot bake you a cake, but there is one thing that I can do." And she took out of her bag a small bottle of perfume, "Chanel 5" - which she kept throughout the war, God knows how, and she broke the bottle on the floor, and said to the father, "At least I can make it not smelly at my child's Bar Mitzvah."
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Immediately after the colorful ceremony at the Western Wall, the delegation that numbered as mentioned 55 Holocaust survivors and another 10 accompanied by volunteers of the association who work day and night for the welfare of Holocaust survivors left for the building of the Knesset, where a guided tour of the plenary hall and the Knesset awaited them and then a meeting with the Speaker of the Knesset, MK Yuli ( Yoel) Edelstein in the Chagall Lounge hall, who said in his long words, among other things, "I am hosting you here and for me it is a great privilege, you do not need to thank me for hosting you, on the contrary, I thank you for agreeing to stay here with us in the Knesset building. You are dear and important people, we host quite a few important people here in the Knesset building, but this event will be etched in his memory." He even revealed that he also did not celebrate a bar mitzvah in his youth because it was not possible for him. The CEO of the association, Mr. Shimon Sebag, immediately and with a smile assured the chairman , because the association will organize such a ceremony for him and he saw it as a promise which, according to him, he would also like and be happy to fulfill. The association will be happy to invite you as soon as possible to visit the "Hot House for Holocaust Survivors" at the association in Haifa and also to hold a late Bar Mitzvah ceremony for the Speaker of the Knesset. At the end of the meeting, Speaker of the Knesset Edelstein presented special certificates of appreciation and gifts to the bride and groom. We note that the celebrants at the event were also joined by Knesset member Dr. Anat Barko, and Deputy Minister of Defense Eli Ben Dahan.

The CEO of the association, Shimon Sabag, said: "Even at my children's bar mitzvah events, I was not so excited, we see the very existence of this rare event as very important, great and holy. These are Holocaust survivors whose event they were supposed to celebrate and celebrate while they were boys at the age of 13 was denied to them because they were persecuted by the Nazis and stayed in ghettos and extermination camps. Those who survived, who are standing here with us today at the Western Wall, survived the inferno of the extermination camps, remained alive and did not celebrate this special event for every Jewish boy and girl, we in the association see this as a sublime, important and holy goal to celebrate the event for them, for them and for their families." He further added Sabag emphasized in his words: "The entire event was an initiative and collaboration of the "Yad Ezer Haber" association and the Holocaust survivors who together enjoyed a special day that was etched in their memory and gave them a few more moments of happiness. The Holocaust survivors deserve everything. Everyone says let the Holocaust survivors die with dignity, and I always say exactly that. On the contrary, let them live with dignity, there is no doubt that the event for all of us was filled with excitement, accompanied by tears that were shed on the Western Wall plaza, a relic of our temple."

We would like to point out that the association organized the event wonderfully and in a masterful way and for the best, since an event of this type is not simple at all and is very logistically complex, most of the Holocaust survivors celebrating, the bus passengers are elderly adults aged 80, 90 and even more, who are assisted daily in wheelchairs, and other walking aids.

One of the bar mitzvah grooms Mr. Mordechai (Motka) Lieber, a holocaust survivor from Poland, told those present, while speaking through many tears of his and those present at the event, his terrible story of what he went through during the war and holocaust. He had difficulty speaking, and while crying, told about his suffering and that he stood in the same line in front of the Germans with all his family members. His mother asked him to the extent that if he survived and remained alive, he would tell the whole world what had happened to all his family members, Mutaka was the only remnant left of all his family members.

With the end of the exciting events at the Western Wall and in the Knesset Tabernacle on the way back from the event, all the survivors and guests were invited to a celebratory meal at the King's Hand at the Abu Gush restaurant and with great joy they returned to their home in Haifa in the evening to the "Hot House for Holocaust Survivors" complex of the "Yad Ezer Havre" association.

The next day, on Tuesday evening, the hundreds of guests celebrating Holocaust survivors and their families gathered for another event to continue the magnificent bar mitzvah celebration with a king-sized dinner at Oranim Halls in Haifa. The evening was graciously and tastefully moderated by a friend and member of the association, the journalist Yoni Hilleli. The event opened with the blessing of the rabbi of the association, the Honorable Rabbi Ya'akov Meman, who blessed all the mitzvah brides and grooms. After that, the founder and CEO of the association, Mr. Shimon Sabag, came up, who congratulated all the Holocaust survivors as happy brides and grooms, thanked all the employees and volunteers of the association who greatly helped the success of the Bar Mitzvah event, and noted that without them this event would not have happened.
On behalf of the association, Mr. Sebag awarded three "social justice" shields, first to Ms. Yehudit Zatz, deputy director of the welfare department of the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, who assists all year round for the welfare of the Holocaust survivors of the association, a second shield was awarded to Holocaust survivor Ms. Chava Hershkovitz, who is also a resident of the "Hot House for Holocaust Survivors" and the veteran volunteer, in recognition of her efforts and inexhaustible contribution to the Holocaust survivors in her association. And another shield to the association's member and friend Mr. Yoni Hilleli, who works day and night for the well-being of the association's Holocaust survivors, and who contributed greatly to the organization and success of the Bar Mitzvah project for Holocaust survivors at the Western Wall and the Knesset Tabernacle.
The event was held in the presence of many guests, including the association's many employees and volunteers, including the association's loyal secretary, Mrs. Tami Siner, Baruch Sebag, director of the association's branch in the northern city of Katzrin, the social worker, Mrs. Amit Shaked, the association's chief of staff, Mr. Israel Cohen, the veteran security officer, Reuven Frizi, who assists In full volunteering at all the association's events since the foundation, the association's first and veteran volunteer Arye Bronstein, Giora and his son, the Sebag family, the Hilleli family, the association's lawyer Yigal Danino, the accountant Galina, the association's cook Shimon Chen, the American volunteer Philip Adams, the director of the social club Mrs. Naomi Iloz, Teria Hyltonen, the volunteer nurse from Finland, Meli Cohen and her house Maayan who helped a lot in the success of the bar mitzvah event, the association's driver Marcelo Kibrick, and many others. On the artistic side was the stand-up artist Dina Or, who managed to make everyone laugh a lot with her witty and electrifying laugh with a lot of humor And on the musical side, a jazz band, which made the evening pleasant, in which all the Holocaust survivors joined in dancing.
It was two consecutive days loaded with the most emotion, in which not a single dry eye remained, hundreds of people who were present at the event could swear that they also saw the stones of the Western Wall crying. We all wish all the Mitzva brides and grooms a happy Mazel Tov, it was very exciting, and may we always meet happily!

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A huge photo gallery from the Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem: Joe Luciano, Roman Lewingerd.