Never Too Late, Says Andover B’nai Mitzvah Crowd

Liz Conti
Special to the Journal
September 19, 2008

	Rabbi Daniel Schweber (bottom left) with (clockwise) Terry Fetters of Lowell; Jason Marshall of N. Billerica; Mark Lang of Andover; Adelle Stavis of Chelmsford; Sharon Cores of N. Reading and Merle Roesler of Reading. (Not pictured is Barbara Moverman of N. Andover.)

Andover –  “After watching so many people close to me go through this ritual, I wanted to experience it for myself,” explained Barbara Moverman, a member of Congregation Beth Israel of the Merrimack Valley.

This sense of wanting to experience what her brothers and, years later, her three daughters felt when they were called to the Torah for the first time motivated Moverman to have an adult bat mitzvah at age 52.

Moverman is one of seven adults who will be called to the Torah in celebration of their b’nai mitzvot at Congregation Beth Israel in Andover on Saturday, Sept. 20.

It was this desire to affirm her own Jewish identity as an adult, something she was never able to do in her youth, that inspired Sharon Cores to take part in Saturday’s ceremony. “I grew up in a small Midwestern town in the 1960s,” Cores said. “In those days, the rabbi’s time for bar mitzvah training was reserved for the boys. I have taught young children in our religious school for 15 years, teach in a Jewish nursery school, and work hard to establish meaningful traditions and observances with my own family, yet I have always felt empty somehow without this official acknowledgement that I am truly a Jewish adult.”

The b’nai mitzvah will mark the first such celebration in Congregation Beth Israel’s five year history. Participants have spent the last two years studying many aspects of Judaism – including learning how to chant from the Torah scroll – in preparation for the big day.

Rabbi Daniel Schweber, CBI’s rabbi since 2005 said, “Lifecycle ceremonies can be more meaningful for adults.”

Merle Roesler said, “my Jewish upbringing was strong, heartfelt, and secular. I never studied Hebrew or attended services, so when I became interested in these aspects as an adult, I felt like an alien. After seeing my sons become bar mitzvah, I came to feel that preparing for my own rite of passage would add another layer of richness to my Jewish identity. And truly it has.”

After having been alienated from Jewish practice as a teen, participating in synagogue life also came to Adelle Stavis as an adult. As a member of Temple Beth El in Lowell, one of Congregation Beth Israel’s predecessor congregations, Stavis admired the women who embraced their new opportunities to chant from the Torah and the Prophets, and lead services.

“I have yearned for some time to be like the cadre of women who chanted,” Stavis said. “I learned Torah trope and now chant Torah almost every Shabbat. But, there was still a quiet desire for something more. I wanted to participate as an adult bat mitzvah to be like these older women who have gone before me.”

Jason Marshall chose to participate because his older son will soon begin preparing for his own bar mitzvah celebration. Jason wanted to experience the preparation both for himself and so he could better empathize with and help his children when it becomes their turn.

For some of the group, the opportunity to spend time learning in a small, supportive group was important. Mark Lang explained, “I look for any opportunity to learn more about Judaism. To increase my knowledge, practices, and skills so I can better appreciate and participate.”

Like Mark, Terry Fetters is a regular attendee of almost every adult education program since his conversion four years ago. Terry likes to use the simile of Jewish learning and practices being like the rungs on Jacob’s ladder.

“It doesn’t matter how high up on the ladder you are; the only important thing is that you are on the ladder. Holding onto the rungs is how I get a better grip on life and on being Jewish,” Fetters said.

Reproduced with permission.


Original article ...

Never Too Late, Says Andover B'nai Mitzvah Crowd
Jewish Journal, September 19, 2008, by Liz Conti
http://www.jewishjournal.org/index.php/story/lifecycle_events/never_too_late_says_andover_bnai_mitzvah_crowd/

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