A Moment in Time: My Bar Mitzvah

by Aaron Millicovsky

I daven at a beautiful shul which has a lot of people and wonderful rabbis.

In the sanctuary, there is a bimah where I stood next to Rabbi Rapoport, who is the head rabbi of my congregation. As he read my first aliyah from the Torah, and as I uttered my Haftorah, his comforting presence gave me courage.

As I was almost done with my aliyah, I anticipated the people of our community throwing candy at me, and the children running around the bimah trying to gather it. We do this hoping that the bar mitzvah boy should have a sweet and wonderful life. Then it was time for one of the biggest moments in my life, the part when I read my Haftorah. I could hear the words ringing in my ears. I could feel the soft velvet cloth that covers the table on top of the bimah. I liked seeing the many eyes of the congregation staring at me, and giving me courage as I read my Haftorah. I smelled the wonderful aroma of the holy books and the carpets.

I was happy to see that my father was smiling at me from his seat. I was so lucky to have a father attend my bar mitzvah, because some children do not have one. Since my bar mitzvah was on Shavuot, my simcha was like my own Matan Torah, because I was now accepting the privilege of fulfilling G-d’s commandments. After my bar mitzvah, I was sad and happy at the same time. Sad because I will never again have a bar mitzvah, and happy because I am now a man according to Jewish law.