Mozel Tov, Isaac! And thanks for the invite.

One of the many things I love about my job is that I get to attend and help celebrate once-in-a-lifetime spiritual events. Before leaving my job as a professor of photojournalism, I spent more than two years documenting religious diversity in Mississippi.

It’s a passion of mine, to document and experience religious events from across the religious spectrum. A nd not surprisingly, one of my favorites is the coming-of-age bar, bat or b’nai mitzvah.

Isaac's Mom gives him a kiss on the cheek.||||||||||||

While I wasn’t able to attend Isaac’s religious Bar Mitzvah service at Congregation Shearith Israel, everyone I spoke with told me what a wonderful job he did.

Isaac and his Dad smile during his Bar Mitzvah rehearsal at Congregation Shearith Israel.

I’m not surprised. On Thursday, at his rehearsal, Isaac carried and dressed the Torah with care, and read his passage from it with sincerity.

Isaac reads from the torah while his father watches.

Isaac ponders which word to pick from the torah.

Isaac laughed after he chose the hebrew word for “remember” from the Torah when the rabbi asked. Well, he actually laughed after he realized he had just barely missed choosing the word “sin.”

Now that, you will remember, Isaac.

Isaac reading from the Torah surrounded by his family.

Dressing the torah after reading from it.

Isaac with proud parents, Andrea and Michael.

Bar mitzvah celebrant with his Mom and Dad.

If you, or someone you know, is looking for a photographer who is passionate about photographing Bar, Bat and B’nai Mitzvahs, send them to my Mitzvah portfolio/contact page.

“There are a million reasons that I thought you would be a great fit for Isaac’s Bar Mitzvah (academic background, brilliant eye, lovely laid-back personality, non-judgmental etc. etc.,) but one of the things I really loved was that you did not seem to have a pre-conceived notion of what a Bar Mitzvah “should” look like and seemed open to whatever was unique to Isaac.
That is a big deal to me.”

— Andrea, Isaac's Mom

Here are a few favorites from the awesome B'not Mitzvah party we photographed at the Metropolitan Club in May. For those who aren't familiar, a boy celebrates a bar mitzvah, a girl celebrates a bat mitzvah. Twin girls celebrate a b'not mitzvah, the plural of bat mitzvah.

Reaching the age of bar or bat Mitzvah signifies becoming a full member of the Jewish community with the obligations that come with it. Friends and family usually celebrate this coming of age with a huge party. Here's how one family celebrated.