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These
images appeared in the 2001 Edition of the Bar Mitzvah and
Party Planning Guide Magazine.
The
cover appeared only on the Tri-State version, not the Long
Island edition. Publishing errors resulted in the cover being
very washed out and yellow. These images are reproduced from
the magazine itself except for the cover where you see our
original file.
Herein
you see how it was meant to look.
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If
the Bar/Bat
Mitzvah is to be more than a teenager's party, then imagery
must be based on substance, and an understanding of what the
event really means.
Is
it the culmination of something, the beginning of something,
does it have religious significance, or is that an old and
obscure opinion?
Is
it a fun time and reason to party? Does it honor the parents,
the kids, the grandparents?
Please
fill me in.
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As
an artist I should get into character the way a method actor
would. I should make a statement.
I
am not there to capture anything.
Hunters
capture! They kill!
I
am a sculptor.
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The
images here and in the many VISIONS
pages, especially Neshama, and Spirit&Identity, evoke an appropriate
and meaningful emotion.
The
Bar/Bat-Mitzvah should be a celebration that recognizes roots
and the transference of tradition, customs and beliefs from
one generation to another.
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A
value system at the core of most religions, and the pursuit
of Torah study with its emphasis on analytic thought and logic
leading to the development of the medical, legal, and scientific
disciplines, are some reasons to be proud of the milestone that
the Mitzvah should mark for the child and family.
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Rabbi
Meir Kahane's books: "Listen World, Listen Jew, or Why
Be Jewish?" and Dr. Alan Dershowitz's: "The Vanishing
American Jew" while at opposite extremes, give plenty
of reasons for celebrating Jewish Identity.
Identity.
If it survives has done so against all attempts to eradicate
it, and despite the nearly universal condemnation of most
of the entire world.
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In
addition to performance study, which in some communities comprises
the majority of preparation for Bar/Bat-Mitzvah, more time
should be spent discussing history.
The
trials and tribulations, the battles and the bloodshed, the
victories and the losses, and the fact that the Holocaust,
the most recent horror, was not an isolated instance but that
in fact approximately every two hundred years, concerted efforts
were made to destroy the Jews as a people.
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Passion;
intensity; character; beauty; strength; substance; sentiment;
roots; bonding; pride; identity; and spirit...
That's
what I try to show!
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