Barmitzvah Addresses

At the age of thirteen, a Jewish boy becomes a "barmitzvah", obligated to observe the tenets of the Jewish Religion. Here are some barmitzvah addresses I gave. Since these were public, I include the name of the individual, but I do not include the date, in case he should not want that to be publicized. These ceremonies took place in Philadelphia, at Congregation Mikveh Israel unless otherwise indicated.

In retrospect, I suppose that my main intent was to make these young people comfortable with their heritage, and encourage them to take a positive attitude to life. The talk on Symbolic Acts is a good generic example.

Included is one Consecration ceremony for girls.

Here are the names of the topics and individuals:

• Consecration Ceremony [Judith Arons and Julie Keller]
• The The Two Paths [Manuel Alvarez – Manchester]
• The Tree of Life [Schuyler Apt]
• Searching for Truth [Jonathan Arons]
• Camp and Standard [Rouvain Bension]
• The Example of Nahshon [David Cfas – Manchester]
• Faith [Bernard Cullen]
• Costly Stones [Mark Cullen]
• The Availability of Torah [David Finkel]
• Samson [Robert Finkel]
• David and Jonathan [Stuart Finkel]
• Motivation [Alan Heine]
• The Waters of Life [Steven Heine]
• Honoring Parents [David Jacoby]
• A Sanctuary in Miniature [Roger James]
• Symbolic Acts [Noel Levan]
• Turning to God [Philip Margolis Jr.]
• A Bargain [A. David Monheit III]
• A Lesson from Isaiah [Mervyn Rodrigues – Manchester]
• Balaam [Jack Selwyne – London]
• Bezalel's Three Stages [Paul Solis-Cohen]
• The Sixth Generation [Frank Spigel]
• The Moral Strength [Robert Spigel]
• The Unchanging [Brian Zahn]

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