Temple Sinai students preparing for adulthood honored those who did not have a chance through “twinning” event
Before seven students at Temple Sinai took their “beautiful rite of passage” into adulthood, they stopped to reflect and remember those who did not have a chance because of the Holocaust.
“Every Jewish moment matters,” Rabbi Michael Perice said. “The lives of those who didn’t reach their B’nai Mitzvah, their life mattered. Their life has rippled and impacted our students here today. Who knows what the future will hold.
“In Judaism, we do not take a short view of time. We have been around far too long to do that. What I see when I look at you all, is a beautiful future because of the work you have done today.”
On Sunday, June 4, students of Temple Sinai in Cinnaminson were preparing to take their Bar and Bat Mitzvot.
For boys, they celebrate their Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13 and girls celebrate their Bat
Mitzvah at the age of 12. Translating Bar and Bat Mitzvah, it means son or daughter of the
Commandment.
Before their own “rite of passage,” the Temple held its twinning event, which was first held in 2021.
The students partaking in the B’nai Mitzvah – Jaclyn Urbanski, Wyatt Urbanski, Grayson Cohen, Joshua Vitale, Ella Cohen, Peter Goldstein, and Vance Cohen – were paired with a child killed in the Holocaust, said Marcia Blacker, educational director at Temple Sinai.
Each student was “twinned” with a student who was murdered in Prague.
“This is done through Yad VaShem in Israel (through Zoom),” Blacker said.
Each of the students spoke about “their twin and the connection of their pairing” to Malky Weissberg from Yad VaShem in Israel.
Goldstein said he enjoyed learning about his “twin.” Not only did the students do research on their twin, but they also found similarities between themselves.
As for stepping into adulthood, Goldstein admitted it was “a little nerve wracking.”
“It does feel good once it is all over,” he said.
Frank Bright, a survivor of the Holocaust and a classmate of the children, the seven students were twinning, was not able to make the event. He will join the students on a future Zoom call.
