Gesher Celebrates 6 New B'not Mitzvah

Congregation Gesher L’Torah is celebrating a special b’not mitzvah service Saturday morning, May 12, when six women will celebrate reaching a landmark they were unable to mark at the traditional age of 12 or 13.

“This weekend is a celebration of something very special about our Gesher L’Torah community,” the congregation said in a pre-Shabbat email blast. “Our Judaism is personal. Being part of the Jewish people, being a member of a synagogue community, being on the journey together with our family and extended family is intertwined with every aspect of the life we lead. We celebrate not only the milestones that are in the book, but we make each moment a special opportunity to recognize who we are and how we connect to something bigger.”

Each of the six women — Janet slosberg Fried, Beth Shapiro, Sandy Sharpe, Arlene Blum, Meryl Shlossman and Dorothy Scherr — will have an aliyah during which se will recite the blessings before and after the Torah reading and will chant from the Torah, whose parshah this week is the combination of Behar and Bechukotai from Leviticus.

“You’ve made it your own, and you’ve made … your life — that it’s already been dedicated to bringing values and living a Jewish life — you’ve now been able to put that into this moment to celebrate, and I am just very excited to celebrate with you,” Rabbi Michael Bernstein says in a Gesher L’Torah video.

The service starts at 9:30 a.m., with the Torah service beginning about 10:15 a.m. Gesher L’Torah is at 4320 Kimball Bridge Road in Alpharetta.

The six b’not mitzvah thank Rabbi Bernstein, Anita Freedman and congregation Executive Director Doug Konkel, among others, in the program for the service.

(Thank you to Barbara Snyder, mother of bat mitzvah Beth Shapiro, for reminding the AJT that this special event was coming.)