Good Times

My nephew Micah became a Bar Mitzvah this past weekend. It was a wonderful family affair. Micah did a wonderful job--having first led weekday shacharit services the Thursday prior to his bar mitzvah, and then leading the entire service (including the preliminary service) on "the big day". I was really amazed how at ease he appeared for such a big occasion; he really approached it with amazing aplomb for a 13-year old.

The service was very much also a "family affair", as many family members were included at various parts of the service. Some read Torah, others had aliyot, others still read prayers, or opened and closed the ark. A very nice job on Micah's part to be sure. Even his younger sister got into the act and read The Prayer for Israel all in Hebrew! Most impressive.

It was very fun to see everyone, too! Of course, it's always good to see my Mom & Jim. And my other nieces and nephews are really growing up nicely: Amy, with her big job in pharmaceutical sales. Seth, who seems very happy studying physics at Columbia. Adam, with his nearly 4.0/4.0 accum at Rutgers still seems to enjoy his "bad boy" image, but appears happy, and is very delightful to talk with. And on and on--from Sarah, who seems to have boundless energy, to Prom King Brad who's about to start a great adventure at college, it's really great to see everyone thriving so well.

My sister, Sondra, and her husband, Frank, did a great job preparing for the weekend. Frank and his father helped prepare Micah for the occasion by studying with him, and Sondra planned a very lovely party. Some pictures will hopefully follow on this site.

It's so nice to get together for happy occasions. In my opinion, this is what families are supposed to do. Even when we live far apart, we make sure to share special events with each other--which is what makes events "special" in the first place. More than once I looked around at all our relatives and thought about how lucky were were to be able to share such an occasion together. Times are good right now, but we all know what the bad times are like, and that makes it all the more sweet to celebrate the good times.