מאגר סיפורי מורשת

אוצר אנושי מתוכנית הקשר הרב-דורי

Surprising My Father at his BarMitzvah

Happy to be together
Harold and Sophie Kay
It's never too late

In 1985 my parents, Harold and Sophie Kay, announced that they would be going on a group trip to Israel with their shul. It had been ten years since we had traveled to Israel as a family, my parents, my brother and myself. They would be going this time with their Rabbi and many members of the synagogue who were 65+ years old. What was different about this trip was that several of the men wanted to prepare to have a BarMitzvah at the wall during the trip. My father had never had the opportunity to have a BarMitzvah ceremony, while others wanted to repeat it at age 83. And so, began my father's journey of learning enough Hebrew to have an Aliah at the wall.

Watching him struggle to attain his goal, I asked myself "How many people get to witness their father's BarMitzvah?" How could I miss this special event and not be sorry? And so, even though I had small children, David age 6 and Jennifer age 3, I was determined to attend. My husband agreed to handle the kids while I would be gone. But the planning for the trip was arranged by my mother as this was to be a surprise for my Dad. The amazing fact is that the other members of the group all knew that I was arriving and managed to keep it a secret from my Dad. I will never forget the look on his face when he walked into the hotel lobby in Jerusalem and saw me there! The next day I had the great pleasure of seeing my father read Torah at the wall, and then travel with the group for several more days.

This time together embraced three loves shared by my father and myself, love of family, love of Judaism and love of Israel.

תמונה 1

 

הזוית האישית

We wish that we will have many more years of a wonderfull relationship, a meaningful trip to Israel and more trips together in the future.

מילון

Aliah
The honor of being called upon to read from the Torah

ציטוטים

”He never had the chance to have a BarMitzvah“

הקשר הרב דורי