By COLlive reporter
Lag BaOmer is known as the holiday celebrating the Upsherin haircut of 3-year-old boys. In Crown Heights, it was celebrated as the Bar Mitzvah of 13-year-old boys.
Yoni Benabou, Mendel Biton, Chaim Brummel, Shmuel Simcha Chein, Moshe Litvack, Mendel Steigman, Avraham Chaim Kozlovsky and Levi Zvulunov are classmates at 7th grade of Lubavitcher Yeshiva of Crown Heights.
Their planned Bar Mitzvah parties, meant to bring together families and friends, were canceled due to the Covid-19 shutdowns.
The drive-by celebration on Tuesday was meant to give 8 boys a chance to celebrate their coming of age. A music truck and car parade with the Bar Mitzvah boys drove around the neighborhood.
With joyful music playing and comedian Mendy Pellin emceeing, the boys danced in the streets and saw people standing on their front lawn and porches cheering and clapping.
“My son was very excited about his Bar Mitzvah for a long time,” one of their mothers, Shevi Biton, told COLlive. “He spent a lot of time planning what kind of party we would have, the music, the food, and all the details. When the pandemic happened, he understood the situation, but I could tell he was heartbroken.”
She soon got the families of the other boys in her son’s class on board, and together they planned a special celebration for the entire class to participate in.
The boys rode in a string of convertible cars, making 15 stops at the homes of each of all of their classmates.
Biton said the drive-by that the traveling celebration will remind the boys that “they are being remembered on their big day, and no one will overlook their milestone event.”
MAZELTOV MAZELTOV
mazel tov
Mazal tov to the boys and their families!!!
Wow, that is so nice! Glad they had a chance to feel special on their bar mitzvah!