The Keller Major League Bar Mitzvah Family Spotlight

The Keller family celebrated son Zach’s Bar Mitzvah on March 3, 2012, at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey.

This was the perfect venue for baseball fan Zach!

Pictured L-R Dad Rich, Sister Samantha, Bar Mitzvah boy Zach and Mom Sharon.

The Photographer was Hallmarc and the rest of the vendors are listed at the end of the spotlight.

Mitzvah Invitation & Service

 Zach’s service took place at Adath Shalom in Morris Plains, New Jersey. This Bar Mitzvah service included many special personal touches that were very unique.

Zach's theme was MLB - Major League Bar Mitzvah. The fold-over invitation and logo were designed by Zach’s Dad Rich, with help from Laura Dufour, a friend who is a graphic designer. As a special treat for Zach, Yogi Berra signed one of the invites!

The table covering on the Bimah was created in honor of Zach's parents' wedding and served as their Chuppah. It was also used for Zach's Brit Milah and Samantha's baby naming ceremony. It is made from a contribution of something white from every female member of Zach's extended family

Zach and Rich each had custom photo tallit created by CBL in West Orange, New Jersey. Zach's included photos of family milestone events such as his parent's Bar Bat Mitzvahs, their wedding, the kids’ baby namings, etc.

Rich’s tallit had pictures of both kids at different stages of their lives

Yarmulkes were all crocheted by Sharon, Zach’s Mom

Zack Keller's ceremony program cover featured artwork of Zach's favorite baseball team and was created by artist and special friend Steve Szynal

Mitzvah Venue & Style

The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center located in Little Falls, New Jersey, is a great venue for a baseball fan like Zach.  

Outside the venue

Inside you are surrounded by Yankee memorabilia, historical items and photos from Berra's career, including his 10 world championship rings!

Zach's Robert Graham Phillies shirt was from Sams Fine Men's Clothing and Samantha's dress was from www.thebaseballdress.com

Samantha wore a Phillies shawl and matching red shoes!

All of the kids were given a baseball jersey, created by ID Clothing, with Zach’s logo on the front and personalized with the number 13 and their name or nickname on the back. The kids changed into the jerseys when they arrived for the party

The waiters were all dressed in umpire uniforms created by their party planner, Joni Bronander

Mitzvah Details

In keeping with the theme, the baseball centerpieces were created by Sharon, Zach’s mom, using photographs taken by Lynne Mass, Zach’s grandmother.

Zach's sign-in locker was an idea that his Mom found on MitzvahMarket.com

The room ready for guests

The centerpieces included photos of Zach in baseball poses

Music & Entertainment

New York Motion provided the music entertainment with Marvin as their MC. 

High fives all around as Zach entered with the New York Motion dancers

High fives all around as Zach entered with the New York Motion dancers

Michael Chaut from Monday Night Magic

Zach's friends were involved in the magic show each revealing a word to honor his big day!

Steve Nyman Caricatures

Zach had a puzzle ceremony instead of candle lighting ceremony. A caricature was created of Zach and cut into 13 pieces. Each person put a piece of the puzzle onto the board (instead of lighting a candle). This represented all of the important “pieces” of his life. Each person or group who was honored was asked to select a charity that was meaningful to them and a donation was made in Zach’s name

Each person or group honored was also described with a word that Zach selected from those around the Yogi Berra Museum (Honor, Selflessness, Generosity, Trustworthiness, Cooperation, Dependability, Respect, Acceptance, Loyalty, Community, Passion, Courage, Ambition)

Mitzvah Project

For Zach’s Mitzvah Project, he raised funds for his family charity: S.C.O.R.E. 4 The Cure. S.C.O.R.E. stands for Support Cancer Outreach Research and Education and is a 501c3 organization. The mission of the charity is to inspire kids and teens to use their passion for sports to conquer childhood cancers. Both Mom Sharon and Dad Rich are cancer survivors, so this charity is particularly meaningful to the family.

Vendor Directory

The following vendors helped to make Zach’s celebration special. If you give any of them a call, please let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com.

Venue: Yogi Berra Museum
Party Planner/Caterer/Umpire Staff Shirts: Joni Bronander, Events by Joni
Music Entertainment: Natasha, New York Motion, 201-768-3963/MC Marvin
Photographer: Hallmarc, 732-294-9200
Videographer: New Milford Productions, 610-888-1178
Invitation/Logo Design: Laura Dufour, lauradu4@gmail.com
Invitation Printing: Ocean Paper, oceanpaper@nyc.rr.com
Montage: Zach’s long-time Nanny, Susanna Varga
Jersey Favors: Alison, ID Clothing, 973-599-1530
Magic Entertainment: Michael Chaut, Monday Night Magic
Caricature artist:  Steve Nyman Caricatures
Clothing for Rich and Zach (Phillies shirt): Sams Fine Men’s Clothing, 973-422-1000
Mom Sharon Dresses: Nita Ideas, 973-379-7711
Baseball dress for Samantha: www.thebaseballdress.com
Tallit: CBL, West Orange, New Jersey
Ceremony Program Cover: Steve Szynal, snsdesign@verizon.net