“This is a great day for me. I was not privileged to experience a bar mitzvah. Rather, I experienced continuous escape during the Second World War, with severe hunger. My family was murdered before my eyes.
Celebrating my bar mitzvah brings me serenity. And today I return to being a 13-year-old boy.”
So said Avraham Alstar, 83-years old, who celebrated – along with 9 other Holocaust survivors – a moving bar mitzvah at the Western Wall.
5786
The Choice to Choose – Parashat Re’eh
As the month of Elul begins, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz reflects on Parashat Re’eh and the power of free choice, reminding us that every decision shapes our future and calling us to consciously choose a life of meaning, responsibility, and blessing.
21 Av 5786
August 4, 2026
