14 Comments

Great review, Beth. I love knowing about these other films with the Bar Mitzvah backdrop too.

Because of all the expectations for a fancy party, which does not include the spirituality of the Bar Mitzvah, we went to Israel. Our twins had a B’nai Mitzvah at the Western Wall and most of my family were able to join. None of us had ever been to Israel so besides the event we went on an amazing tour.

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It’s beautiful to have it in Israel. My son we did a party for him there too. We were able to keep spirituality intact and the dvar Torah was delivered and wow was it deep! I’m so proud of my daughter!

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🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

I cried when we stepped foot onto the holy land tarmac.

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Great breakdown! I enjoyed this film a lot. I'm a sucker for Adam Sandler, he just seems like an overall good dude. We look forward to attending my nephew's Bar Mitzvah this April, and yes, he has a theme...it's baseball. :)

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Thanks Valerie! Baseball totally tracks. My son had basketball balloon centerpieces and a marquee so I guess this was a theme of sorts but we didn’t really Carry it through! April is a great time of year for a bar or bar mitzvah!

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Never been to or seen one, just the movies, like other people have mentioned. Having a theme, though, sounds like any other birthday celebration.

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It’s like a scale of a wedding. Not like my wedding (very no frills and low key) but from what I hear comparisons of

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I have never attended one and know them only via film and stories of my friends’ own. Two recent bat mitvahs on my screen this year not included here were in Nobody Wants This and Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Both over the top once again as you noted here - thanks for sharing!

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Yes! Thx for sharing Amanda. Agreed that “Nobody Wants This” was over the top! I don’t watch RHOSLC but now I want to heck out this episode. I can only imagine that the price tag gets steep. I’ve always been anti big bash because well, I’m an introvert (despite attention face to face) and have practicality and savings engrained in my brain. But as I’m getting wiser (older) I feel like it can be nice to reframe these events to memorialize moments that matter, especially when it comes to my kids.

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The RHOSLC one is fun because Meredith is an adult and choosing exactly how she wants it to be. I mean there is also a massive fight but… it’s otherwise beautiful.

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Naturally there would be a fight… A beautiful film

I watched featuring an adult bat mitzvah that was very understated and even gave context on the ritual and its significance was “Between the Temples” which came out last year with Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman

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Such an interesting read, Beth. Love the comparison between real life and film versions. I sort of have an idea of what a Bar/Bat Mitzvah is, mostly from media as I’ve never been to one myself.

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Thx Ingrid! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Yes! It’s such a uniquely different planning experience and event. It was a good way to reflect and work through my feelings as it was still fresh on my mind but over. Writing is often our friend in this way!

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Thank you for including all the "whys and wherefores". I'd seen bar mitzvah scenes in movies before (Thank you, Adam Sandler), but never a whole movie devoted to one. These all sound great. A theme is a cute way of tying decor and food/music elements together, but some do go way overboard, for all sorts of occasions. The movie-themed image is intriguing.

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