I went to the Synagogue this morning

What a privilege it was to be present at the Bar Mitzvah of Noam, a beautiful young teenager with Cerebral Palsy. Noam, his mum and brothers are part of the Christ Church Anglican community in the old city of Jerusalem. They are Jewish believers in the Messiah and whilst being a committed believer, mother also recognizes that she is still Jewish and rightly considers that some customs are still important.
Christ Church is the oldest Protestant church in the Middle East and part of the ministry where my friends Don & Caroline work. All of the church community was invited to join the family on this special occasion.

This was an unusual Bar Mitzvah celebration for children from a 'special' school. Communication devices, sign language and blessings written in communication symbols are some of the techniques used by children who, in their own way, are taking their rightful place in Jewish tradition.

 Noam is a delightful young man who was so excited about his special day. Two others were also celebrating this special life event today. I can't explain all the steps because everything was spoken in Jewish! But I can tell you that I was impacted by the sincerity of the people taking part, the kindness of the carers and the Rabbi and the involvement of the entire family in the proceedings. And always the wonderful sound of Jewish people singing their traditional songs.

So here are a few photos 

the delightful Noam enjoying it all,

 

the rabbi tying the Phylacteries to Noam's arm (and later his head)

  Noam giving the required responses,

the  Torah being read by the rabbi and then by Noam

and then everyone celebrating

and taking photos

  

and making presentations.

What a fabulous experience. One I had never expected but I'm thrilled that I did.

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2. When words appear in blue and underlined you can click on those words and you will be taken to a web page with information about whatever is underlined, in this case Bar Mitzvah, Torah and Phylacteries. Hope this helps.