We woke up early this Saturday to attend my friend Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah. Growing up Catholic, I actually was a little nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if I had to participate in any of the Jewish customs or if Catholics were allowed inside. I just didn’t know… The only thing I knew was the ceremony was going to take about three hours.

Once we got to the temple, it was actually not bad. I could tell that we were not the only non-Jewish people there. There were about 15 adults taking their Bar/Bat Mitzvah so it took a while with all the normal ceremonial stuff plus the individual reflections that each person presented.

After hearing much of the prayers and speeches, I kinda felt like the participants were actually similar to how Catholics get confirmed. It’s much like reaffirming your religion, your beliefs, etc… and trying to lead a better life. I actually felt okay except at one point where one of the participants did say something about Catholics, which kinda made me feel uncomfortable.

All and all, it was a good experience and it was nice to support a friend with an important event in her life.

Afterwards, me and my friends went to a mall to kill time before Rachel’s party and get together later that evening.

Around 7pm or so, we went to a senior center where Rachel was having her party and had dinner. It was catered by a Mexican catering service, so we had yummy tacos and salad with all the fixings. There was also a lot of music and karaoke and dancing.