Bat Mitzvah Celebration!

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post about my niece, Becky’s, Bat Mitzvah celebration for which my family traveled across the country from New York to Seattle to attend. Well time flies! This month we returned to celebrate my niece Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah and it was another wonderful event.

This time around the group included my family of 3, my two sisters with their families, and my brother with his family for a total of 16! We stayed at the very cool Marriott hotel at the Redmond Town Center which surrounded us with shopping opportunities galore! There were many functions planned for us to enjoy over the long weekend including a lovely brunch at the Westin hotel in Bellevue. Needless to say, we ate a lot!

The Bat Mitzvah service was held once again at the stunning Goldfarb Schwartz Sanctuary at the Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Bellevue, Washington. Surrounded by soaring pine trees, the Sanctuary was the perfect backdrop for a very joyous occasion. Rachel did a spectacular job reciting from the Torah and her speech was lovely.  Building on the value of compassion and her responsibility to the community as a Bat Mitzvah, Rachel organized donations of stuffed animals to the Seattle Children’s Hospital. We could not have been prouder.

From there we left for a wonderful celebration held at the Bellevue Arts Museum. The Bellevue Arts Museum is the Pacific Northwest’s center for the exploration of art, craft and design, emphasizing the work of regional artists. (I couldn’t help but think how much Risa would love it!)

The main floor of the museum was set up for the party and the rest of the museum was open for guests to wander through and enjoy the exhibits. The food was first rate, the DJ got everyone on the dance floor and the Horah dance was a highlight. A standout of the party were the artists that were hired to create t-shirts for the guests. So fitting for the venue! The artists airbrushed a plain white t-shirt with whatever the guest requested. They were a hit! The night flew by too quickly!

When my niece Becky had her Bat Mitzvah, I gave her a little piece of jewelry to help her remember her special day for years to come. I gave her the Seeka Bat Mitzvah necklace.

But, now it was Rachel’s turn and I didn’t want to give her the same thing so I decided upon the Angie Olami Garnet Pomegranate Necklace. I like the symbolism of the pomegranate. It’s one of the seven species of which the land of Israel was blessed, and is a symbol of abundance and new beginnings. A legend arose within Judaism that each and every pomegranate contained 613 seeds, representing the 613 commandments of Torah.  I thought this was very fitting as a Bat Mitzvah gift.

Before we knew it, the weekend was over and it was time for us to return home. We made many great memories on this trip and we are still sorting through all the photos! Mazel Tov Rachel!