Teen Blogger: Urban Theme Bat Mitzvah

On The Bar Bat Mitzvah Circuit…With Carrie

By Carrie Berk

I’m an 8th grader and live on the Upper East Side in NY. I love fashion, soul cycle, theater, hanging out with friends, and cupcakes (I have a blog on them). My home over the summer is Camp Hillard where I serve as a CIT with my best friends. My Bat Mitzvah project is for my old dance teacher and friend, Elizabeth Maria Walsh, who died of a rare form of cancer at just 26 years old. Direct message me on Instagram (@carrieberkk) for information on how to donate, and follow me for sick Bat Mitzvah photos!

When I recently got the evite to Jessi Finkelstein’s Bat Mitzvah, I knew I was in for a “wild” time!

Jessi and Carrie at her celebration

The venue was the Brooklyn Zoo NY, so a lot of guests (including me!) expected we would be surrounded by animals. Instead, it was a cool graffittied parkour gym with breathtaking views of New York City.

The service was held upstairs in a space surrounded by floor to ceiling windows.

There were Havdalah spices that were given out to guests as we listened to Jessi chant her Torah portion

Guests sat at long tables with white benches

Once the service was over, the kids went downstairs and on to a bouncy floored lounge with blowup couches.

It was uber modern, and was even more fun when the disco lights turned on and lit the space in a swirl of colored dots. We got black sunglasses to wear as we walked around.

There was also a photo booth in front of the graffiti wall–the photos were printed out with Jessi’s logo on them

There was a pizza truck outside the space where you could customize your own slice, as well as dig into penne alla vodka and caesar salad, all of Jessi’s favorite foods. Once the dinner was over, we arrived downstairs to many surprises.

We were told to get in a circle while a special break dance squad burst into the room. The dancers spun on their heads, right in front of our eyes! There was even a guy who bounced off of the bouncy floor back to a platform that was fifty feet off the ground! Jessi got a chance to jump off of the platform, and so did we!