My Turn: Second bar mitzvah brings joy to Jewish journey

My second chance was Sunday, June 5, as the only male in a group of nine adults, including my wife, Lauren, as I celebrated my adult bar mitzvah. A bar mitzvah (for a boy) or bat mitzvah (for a girl) marks the passage, traditionally at age 13, to a Jewish adult, a time when a boy or girl is asked to lead the congregation in worship.

My first bar mitzvah took place at the Avenue O Jewish Center in Brooklyn on June 28, 1969. I did not have the opportunity to lead the service or chant from the Torah, the Five Books of Moses at the beginning of the Bible. Chanting Torah is an essential component of a bar mitzvah. I only read from the Haftarah, the Books of Prophets. After my bar mitzvah, my family continued to celebrate Jewish holidays, but the rest of my Jewish experience was on hiatus.

Fast forward to 1999. My wife and I joined The Suburban Temple, now Temple B’nai Torah, in Wantagh to start our children, Amanda and Lathan, on their Jewish journeys. Little did I realize my own Jewish journey would begin again.

We attended Friday night Shabbat services, and I volunteered for temple committees. Watching, my children, from my seat in the sanctuary, conduct their bat and bar mitzvahs, I doubted I would ever lead the congregation in worship and chant from the Torah.

In 2019, the temple offered Hebrew for beginners to enable those who wanted an adult b’nai mitzvah, representing more than one participant. Inspired, I enrolled, purchased the workbooks, organized a loose-leaf for my notes and handouts, and kept a journal.

Over the next two years, the Hebrew letters and vowels became words, and the words transitioned into prayers and the prayers were meaningful. When the pandemic hit and classes went to Zoom, I was not deterred.

At a ceremony in the temple garden, I received my Mishkan T’filah, the prayer book used in the Jewish Reform Movement, to help lead the service with others in my group.

Most important, I was assigned my Torah portion telling the story of Moses bringing the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai.

I learned how to chant from the Torah using trope, a form of musical notation that shows how to add a melody, where to hold a note or raise or lower my voice, giving emphasis to the Hebrew.

I also learned to write my d’var Torah, a commentary showing the congregation what I learned. Inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” I chose mountains and their connection to God.

Our group met with a sofer, the scribe who hand writes a Torah scroll. He showed us the instruments he uses and taught us how a scroll is created and how a scroll and its lettering can be repaired. Along with the group and clergy, I got a chance to repair a letter in the scroll from which we chanted.

My family encouraged me throughout my journey. I enjoyed learning and practiced reading aloud using my kitchen counter as a podium. My favorite prayer was Eilu D'varim, the one I shared with my wife, Lauren.

At our group rehearsal, the clergy gave each of us a personal "yad," the ritual pointer used to chant from the Torah. My yad became an extension of my hand, strengthening my connection to the words as I chanted.

When it came time to chant before the congregation, I wore the kippa (head covering) from my first bar mitzvah, and to honor my late father, I wore his tallit (prayer shawl). I looked up and saw my children in the sanctuary, realized what I had accomplished, took a deep breath and chanted.

Howard Lev,

East Meadow