How We Celebrated AY’s Bar Mitzvah

Our sweet, dear, son AY (Avraham Yitzchak) became a Bar Mitzvah over Chanukah. There is no disputing that this beautiful and stunning soul was and continues to be the absolute best Chanuakh gift I have ever received. It was amazing to celebrate him with almost 40 of our closest family members including some of his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins living in Israel (while sadly missing the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that live abroad).

A big Geller Family Shabbos was always in the cards, the question was simply, where. We thought about traveling North and even considered the beach for half a second until we finally settled on the most magical, spiritual and meaningful of all locations, the Old City of Jerusalem.

We booked rooms at the Sephardic House, a charming boutique hotel and actually the only hotel in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. I prefer the rooms in the new building (which funny enough look old), a recently renovated addition to the hotel which is actually a restoration of the original late 19th century architectural structure.

We started the long weekend on Thursday with AY laining/reading from the Torah in a morning minyan/prayer service at the Kotel followed by breakfast at an outdoor Rova cafe, dinner at Lucianna in Mamilla and the City of David Light Show which was super special.

Friday morning was spent getting ready and taking family photos within the ancient alleyways and with the backdrop of the iconic arches of the Old City.

Talia Kanter Photography

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Shabbos meals were held at Aish World Center, the breathtaking, premiere location for simchas/celebrations in the Old City, directly overlooking the Kotel.

It’s hard to describe the serene intensity of lighting candles overlooking the Kotel for this special milestone and then praying Maariv, the evening prayer right there, touching and kissing the Western Wall.

I don’t have pictures of the beautifully understated and elegant meals because it was of course Shabbos, but I can tell you I didn’t feel the need for anything other than a simple floral arrangement because the breathtaking ambiance was created by the Kotel view. But I’ll share some photos here of other simchas held at Aish and what the different spaces could look like.

Planning a family Shabbos for 40 is a fair amount of work, coordination and money but honestly the payoff is priceless. The memories created from a 3 day weekend shared in the Old City will forever be embedded in our family story. And I can only hope, pray and wish that this was not a once in a lifetime experience.

Mazel Tov to our dear AY we are so proud of the young man that you are. You have a uniquely kind, warm, loving and generous soul. We feel utterly privileged and honored to have had this special opportunity to celebrate you.