Last Saturday, October 14, 2023, my younger grandson, Leo Gerstein, celebrated his bar mitzvah at a temple in New York City. So, what is a bar mitzvah?
A bar mitzvah is a coming-of-age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, their parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they are said to "become" b'nai mitzvah, at which point they begin to be held accountable for their own actions.
Of course, Cristina and I travelled to New York to be at Leo's bar mitzvah along with many members of our family and friends of the family. Leo's performance was amazing. We are all very proud of him.
We left Sao Paulo on Monday the 9th, arriving in New York by plane on Tuesday the 10th. We had dinner that night at Leo's home on East 86th Street along with my daughter Rachel, her mother Bonita, my son-in-law Mike, my grandson Nate, my niece Lauren and her husband Alex and daughter Adeline.
On Wednesday the 11th, we spent much of the day with my friend Joe. That included both breakfast and lunch plus a trip to the Apple Store at Grand Central Station.
On Thursday the 12th, I hosted a dinner at Gallagher's Steak House for my children (Rachel and Bret), their spouses (Mike and Pam) and my grandchildren (Nate and Leo). Cristina and I shared a delicious 14 oz. filet mignon.
On Friday the 13th, we had bagels with smoked salmon, cream cheese and tomato at Tal's on East 86th Street. We also had dinner at Leo's followed by Friday night services at the temple.
On Sunday the 15th, we had a brunch again at Leo's followed by veal dinners at the Back Room on East 92nd Street. We were there last year and wanted very much to return.
On Monday the 16th, we shopped for clothes at Old Navy on East 86th Street and bought a book (Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo) at the new Barnes & Noble location on Third Avenue.
On Tuesday the 17th, the Carmel taxi service took us to JFK airport for our trip home. We arrived safely in Brazil on Wednesday the 18th.
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