Many cried tears of joy and pain when 13-year-old Eitan Levinshtern stepped on stage at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center and read a chapter of Psalms in support of the hostages in Gaza and for the IDF soldiers fighting on both the southern and northern borders.
Eitan is the son of Sergeant Major. (res.) Elisha Levinshtern of Harish, a reservist in the Armored Corps’ 8104th Battalion who fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip in December when an anti-tank missile launched by Hamas terrorists hit his tank.
Young Eitan's bar mitzvah celebration was unique, celebrating along with 121 other orphaned boys, including war orphans. The event took place on Monday as part of a festive and elaborate bar mitzvah organized by Colel Chabad, an annual event to mark the Lubavitcher Rebbe's birthday.
This year’s celebration took place with the recognition that many more Israeli wives and children had become widows and orphans in recent months but that maintaining an optimal level of normalcy for those families is an integral part of the Israeli and Jewish spirit.
"It is exciting to see that even in such a complex and challenging situation, the people of Israel continue to celebrate the circle of Jewish life," said Eitan's mother, Hadas.
Levinshtern's death was received with great pain in Harish. The Yeshivat Hesder Yerucham, which he attended in his youth, received the news with shock. He was the seventh alumnus of the yeshiva who fell in battle in the current war.
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Eitan Levinshtern recites Psalms for the hostages, IDF soldiers
(Photo: Mendy Kornet)
“The shining light of dear Rabbi Elisha has been extinguished," the yeshiva said in a statement paying tribute to Levinshtern, who fell during Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Light.
The bar mitzvah celebration began at the Western Wall, where each bar mitzvah boy received a personal set of tefillin from Chabad. The boys were each danced down to the Western Wall, where they put on tefillin, were called up to the Torah and lifted onto the shoulders of family members and volunteers.
The boys and their families then attended a gala event in Jerusalem’s International Convention Center hall, where they were treated to a three-course meal, concert, photo session and gifts to mark the occasion.
Chief Rabbi David Lau, Jerusalem's Chief Rabbi Moshe Shlomo Amar, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and other government ministers and Knesset members came to honor the boys and congratulate them.
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Israeli orphan Refael is danced down to the Western Wall for his bar mitzvah
(Photo: Mendy Kornet)
“This year’s bar mitzvah celebration is certainly different than any other year but it reminds us that we need to be here for families in need more than ever," said Colel Chabad Director of Development Rabbi Zalman Duchman
"The painfully large number of orphaned children all across Israel need to know that life will go on for them and they deserve to have happy days like these. We are here to give these kids strength but in truth, it is often them and their mothers who give us strength by inspiring us through their grit and tenacity to carry on in the face of some of the most difficult tragedies.”