We read about a wonderful Bar Mitzvah project in the Cleveland Jewish News that we wanted to share.
Last summer, 13-year-old Sam Heller (pictured left) took a trip to Europe with his family that affected him in a way that he couldn’t have imagined. The Hellers, of Moreland Hills, Ohio, traveled to the sites of the concentration camps at Mauthausen in Austria and Terezin in the Czech Republic. Although he previously had learned a great deal about the Holocaust in Jewish day schools, Sam said this trip really opened his eyes to what Holocaust survivors had to endure.
As a result of that experience, Sam decided that instead of personal gifts for his Bar Mitzvah, he would ask his friends and family to donate to Jewish Family Service Association of Cleveland’s Holocaust Survivor Support Program. He also included a personal note in everyone’s invitation explaining why this was so important to him and invited them to make a donation in any amount.
On the reverse side of Sam’s note was a list of what different items cost, to help people decide how much they wished to donate.
To read more about this amazing Mitzvah Project click here.
