A Charlottesville family is celebrating today after a traditional weekend ceremony held in a very modern way. Sandy Hausman reports on how one congregation is coping with the new coronavirus.
When Jewish children turn 13, they are officially welcomed into the community as adults – reading from the Torah – a religious scroll that Christians call the Old Testament. In Charlottesville, 12-year-old Lillian Showalter spent half a year getting ready for her big day.
“Six months ago I started having lessons with my tutor – learning Hebrew,” she says.
But the coming of COVID-19 made it impossible for her to celebrate with a large group of family and friends, and postponing was not an appealing option, since the passages she had learned were based on the date when she would be reading.
“If we postponed, she would have to learn a completely new torah portion,” says Lillian’s mother, Shayna Showalter, adding that the Torah – a sacred and historic scroll – would be absent, but the rabbis at Congregation Beth Israel built a special, protective box and allowed the family to bring it to their home.
(Lillian sings a Jewish prayer) More than 200 people from as far away as Sweden were able to join in the festivities on Zoom and Facebook Live.
“A lot of people dressed up. A lot of people were in their pajamas. It was really cool to see,” recalls Shana Showalter.
And Lillian actually enjoyed her virtual bat mitzvah.
“On Zoom it was easier, because I wasn’t looking at a large crowd,” she explains.
The congregation, which has held several virtual services, may be doing more bar and bat mitzvah’s online this spring and summer.
