When the time came and Liam was asked to read his portion of the Torah, he read the words in a subdued voice and with great excitement and all those present at the service held their breath in anticipation of what might happen next. It was only after the blessings when in keeping with tradition sweets were thrown towards the Bar Mitzvah boy, that everyone could breathe a sigh of relief and let the singing and dancing commence to fill the whole synagogue with joy. This outburst of happiness helped Liam and his family forget the sad fact that many of his relatives could not come to the celebration.
In a certain sense Liam's Bar Mitzvah ceremony was just like any other Bar Mitzvah with its accompanying prayers, the calling up to read the Torah, the singing and dancing, but for many good reasons Liam will never forget his Bar Mitzvah for the rest of his life. The thirteen-year-old Liam lives in Kibbutz Bror Hayil, a secular kibbutz located only five kilometers from the Gaza border. Though Liam's father is not Jewish and the family is not observant, his mother wanted very much to see her son celebrate his Bar Mitzvah according to Jewish tradition.
Liam began participating in a Bar Mitzvah course run by the Reut Sderot Association in Sderot and the surrounding kibbutzim that was directed by Rabbi Moshe Shahor. As part of this program Liam participated in group and individual study sessions that dealt with Jewish identity, basic concepts in Judaism and needless to say, also learning how to read from the Torah and put on Tefilin.
The date for the Bar Mitzvah was set for January 15, 2009 and everything seemed to be progressing according to plan, but the realities in the region were to thwart even the best plans. Three weeks prior to the planned event war broke out (Operation Cast Lead), and dozens of Qassam rocket attacks rained down over the whole area, "Red Alert" alarms were heard every single day and the normal routine in the towns and villages in the Gaza belt area were totally disrupted.
The organizers of the Bar Mitzvah found it very difficult to see how they could possibly hold the Bar Mitzvah ceremony as planned and tried their best to find alternative solutions but none of these worked out, because of the difficulty involved in organizing a trip elsewhere for the kibbutz members. It was finally decided that the Bar Mitzvah ceremony will go as planned at the kibbutz irrespective of what might ensue. Other students were prepared to face the challenge as Yochai who, representing Reut Sderot, guided Liam through all the preparatory stages, called on all his own friends from his yeshiva high school and with a special approval from the Home Front Command decided that the event would take place that very Thursday morning.
Words alone cannot describe the great excitement that filled the synagogue at Kibbutz Bror Hayil that morning. The ceremony was attended only by Liam's immediate family and young people from the Kibbutz (his friends from places outside the Kibbutz were not allowed to attend because of the risk involved). They were joined by the members of the Reut Sderot group who were accompanied by a wonderful group of young men recruited for the mission. The Bror Hayil synagogue was decorated for the festive occasion as the sounds of prayers in keeping with Jewish religious tradition had not been heard on a weekday there for very many years and certainly not during such tense and turbulent times when the nervous expectations of the "Red Alert" was always in the background.
Liam was very excited when he read from the Torah and after that the entire congregation prayed for the safe return of the IDF soldiers who were fighting at that very moment for Israel's security and it was thanks to their efforts that the celebration could be held. When the blessings were over the final blessing of "Amen" was heard loud and clear from all those present and immediately after that the congregation started dancing and singing as they carried Liam on their shoulders.
The deputy chairperson of the regional council remarked that "Such unique friendship and unity as we are seeing here should be encouraged and maintained as a matter of routine in more peaceful times”.