Recent Press About Bet Haverim

From the Davis Enterprise, Monday, January 14, 2008

A memorable bar mitzvah: Flashlight illuminates ceremony

By Elisabeth Sherwin | Enterprise staff writer

Rabbi Greg Wolfe and Jacob Rutheiser, 13, rehearse Jacob's bar mitzvah during a power outage Friday, Jan. 4, in the social hall at Congregation Bet Haverim. Family members hoped power would be back on by Saturday, but it wasn't, so they had the service in the social hall, which has more natural light than the sanctuary. (Courtesy photo)

Sometimes the weather just can't be allowed to get in the way. During the big wind and rain storm of Jan. 4-5, rural mail carriers in Woodland wore individual headlamps to sort the mail, an evening Mass at St. James was celebrated by candlelight, and a young man at Congregation Bet Haverim in Davis said his prayers by flashlight in front of 130 family members and friends.

Mark Rutheiser and Jenny Rutheiser watched their son, Jacob, 13, celebrate his bar mitzvah ('one who is responsible for the Commandments') on Saturday, Jan. 5. Judaism regards age of 13 as the benchmark of religious maturity.

'The power went off on Friday morning and we had a rehearsal at 2 p.m.,' Mark said. 'The power was still off and the sanctuary was completely dark even during the day. We have a small social hall next door (on Anderson Road) and we decided to move it there.

'Sure enough, on Saturday morning we arrived with the photographer and the power was still off. So we set up chairs and held it there.'

He said the Torah, or holy book, was carried over to the hall in a portable ark.

The service began at 10 a.m. and continued to 12:30 p.m.

'So we read the Torah by flashlight as 130 people sat in the dark and cold,' he added. 'A lot of people were very impressed and said it was a beautiful and memorable service.'

Jacob, a student at Holmes Junior High School, said he wasn't exactly worried by the change in plans but he was a little surprised.

'I knew it would be rainy but I didn't expect a blackout,' he said. 'The rabbi (Greg Wolfe) and I took turns holding the flashlight and reading the Torah.

'I will always remember that day anyway but now there's something really making it stand out,' he said.

Mark said his son studied Hebrew for four years and prepared for his bar mitzvah for four months. It was a big day, and the prayers his son memorized were specific to that calendar day so it would not have been easy to have rescheduled the event.

When it all came together, Mark and his son agreed that it was pretty cool.

'It will go down in history at the temple,' Mark said.

- The Enterprise's Monday feature, 'Off the Beaten Path,' offers snapshots of life in Yolo County. Reach Elisabeth Sherwin at gizmo@dcn.org
 

Article courtesy of the Davis Enterprise, used by permission.

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