Photos: Cynthia Yaacobi

This year we had 23 young ladies celebrating their batmitzvaswith the ESRA family.  

The party has become one of the eagerly awaited events of the year and the mothers and daughters know that they will have a celebration.
Our “balloon man” Eitan decorated the hall with beautiful balloons, the girls all had posters with their photos which their friends inscribed and which we framed.  Shiri Haguel, Deputy Mayoress of Netanya, spoke to the girls. The activity of preparing candleholders was shared by mothers and daughters and this was followed by a power point presentation of each of the girls and their hopes for the future.

The ceremony of “hafrashat chalah” added the spiritual element to the evening with the mothers and daughters lighting their candles and saying a private prayer.

The party ended with Juliet Rostowsky’s delicious and beautiful birthday cake, pizzas, injera (a sourdough risen flatbread) and Dabu (a large round bread made from teff flour) . The girls were given gifts of delicate designer necklaces handmade and donated by Natali Jewelry Design, and left happy and excited.  

The short description above of the event does not describe the emotions of the girls, their mothers, our students and everyone who was there - excitement, joy, laughter and tears, solemn moments and moments of pure delight. The photos speak for themselves.