1st Row: Cantor Shayna De Lowe, Janice Gelfand, Stefanie Gray, Beth Greenwald, Justin Ferate, Molly Gordy, Monica Kaiser, Steven Silverberg, Rabbi Ben Spratt
2nd Row: Andrea Katz, Zubeida Ullah, Peter Ehrenberg, Elinor Goldsmith-Greenberg, Marlene Krauss, Christina Hurtado-Pierson , Sarah Baker, Stephen Toder, Nancy Crown, Judy Landis, Cecelia Cooper
On a beautiful summer Shabbat morning, 18 Rodeph Sholom congregants became B’nai Mitzvah in front of hundreds of friends, family, and fellow congregants. For nearly a year, this year’s adult B’nai Mitzvah class has been on a journey of intention. They disrupted their assumptions of identity, they explored the power of words and behaviors, they pondered and challenged beliefs and hopes, and they looked to find their place in the grand tapestry of Judaism.
The culminating event of a year-long course of study, the service, entirely led by the B’nai Mitzvah students, was magical and meaningful for all involved. Each person spoke about their personal journeys (click here to read them all), and each read a few lines from the Torah. Pride, appreciation, and admiration radiated from the congregation as they watched these students become leaders of prayer.
Held every other year, this was one of the largest adult B’nai Mitzvah classes at Rodeph Sholom. All told, there have been 73 in the past 10 years.
