This morning (Thursday), some 230 Bar and Bat Mitzvah boys arrived at the Western Wall for an exciting Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremony at the Western Wall Plaza, held by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation together with the Morasha organization associated with the Rabbinical Center of Europe, which has been organizing such trips for the past 14 years.
The boys and girls, who came from Spain, Azerbaijan, France, Russia, Hungary, Finland, Germany were greeted by the rabbi of the Western Wall and the holy sites, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, together with the heads of the Rabbinical Center of Europe, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Rabbi Arie Goldberg, Rabbi Yossi Beinhacker, and guides of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and the Rabbinical Center of Europe who accompanied the boys and girls on this special day.
The day began with the arrival of the European children at the Western Wall Plaza, accompanied by a musical procession and a large crowd that enveloped them in love and joy. It continued with the giving and laying of tefillin of each Bar Mitzvah boy, going up to the Torah, and a moving Bat Mitzvah ceremony that included a personal prayer and the giving of candlesticks to each Bat Mitzvah girl.
The boys and girls ended the day by receiving a personal certificate as a gift and by taking experiential tours of the Chain of Generations Center and the new Great Bridge route in the Western Wall Tunnels, in different languages.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation: We are happy to take part every year in bringing bar and bat mitzvah children from Europe to the Western Wall, the heart of the Jewish people. It is exciting to see the Bar and Bat Mitzvah boys who come from the Diaspora to celebrate at the Western Wall. There is no place more suitable than the Western Wall, as the remnant of our Temple, to connect the younger generation and children of the Diaspora to Jewish heritage and the chain of generations!
Rabbi Arie Goldberg, Executive Director of the Rabbinical Center of Europe:
Today we were privileged to come to the Western Wall, with a group of boys and girls to celebrate their Bar and Bat Mitzvah, after a spiritual journey in the Land of Israel that began on Sunday. This is the first time they have had the privilege of coming to the Western Wall. Special thanks to the management of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation for the wonderful hospitality for 14 years in a row. We are sure that the visit here will permeate their souls and that they will pass it on to their families in Europe.
