My 1958 Bar Mitzvah

It was on this date, April 18th, 1958 I had my Bar Mitzvah. It has always been a special date for me because at the age of 13, it was one of the first times I had achieved anything significant, and with every other major accomplishment that would come in my life, it took the caring and involvement of others to succeed.

In the Fall of 1957, when I joined the Temple and enrolled in Hebrew School (as did my two younger sisters, known now as Lisa and Lorrie), many people said it would be impossible for me to learn the large amount of religious study and Hebrew to attain a Bar Mitzvah. It was discouraging but I was determined. But on that magical night, only seven months later, in front of a synagogue full of people, that Bar Mitzvah, presided over by Rabbi Soloff, was a success, a tremendous success in the mind of a boy now symbolically a man.

It would be a life changing event for me, for it showed me I had the tools to succeed in something difficult if only I would apply myself. Four years ago today, in the afternoon, I went back to what has long been an LAX union meeting hall, instead of a long forgotten Temple and turned on the lights and walked up to the podium.

Fifty years had passed and as I looked out across what had been the synagogue, much of it was the same. The linoleum floors, the plastic chairs and other elements right out of the 1950's. Only the Jewish religious materials were gone. But that was fine for in my mind, it was suddenly April 18th, 1958 again and I thanked everyone in that room for attending, explaining aloud to them the difference their caring would later make in the life of that 13 year old boy.

And then with a big smile and I'm sure a sparkle in my eyes, I waved at them and wished them well, as I then stepped down from the podium, a tear of joy in my heart, and then like a scene from the movie "Back to the Future," returned to 2008, leaving the Temple now Union Hall and getting in my car in the sunshine of the afternoon, a bit overwhelmed by what had just transpired.

Dick
On what I believe was the 35th anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah, that evening I drove down with Kyle to show him where the Bar Mitzvah had taken place and explained to him why it was so important to me. That importance has only grown with time.