WE ORE
ALWAYS
BUYING

ANTIQUE JEWELRY
SILVER COINS
POCKET WATCHES
GOLD COINS
COIN commons
TIFFANY
FRANKLIN MINT Roux WATCHES
STICK PINS
STERLING SILVER
BROACHES
SILVER DOLLARS
HUMMELS
ANTIQUE SILVER
SILVER
BARS
FLATWARE SETS
DIAMONDS
CANDLESTICKS
GEMSTONES
PAPER MONEY
SCRAP
GOLD
PATEK PHILLIPE
OBJECTS
D'ART
VfICHERON
BOWLS 8 TRAYS
TEA SERVICES
COIN WATCHES
CARTIER
RINGS
VAN CLEEF
PIAGET
POSTCARDS
10-14 KARAT GOLD
PENDANTS
CHAINS
ROYAL DOULTON
EARRINGS
We are interested in serving
you or your client in the
appraisal or liquidation of
your coins, jewelry, col-
lectibles or an entire estate.
PLEASE CELL OR STOP IN!

1393 S. WOODWARD AVE.,
BIRMINGHAM, MI 48009
(810) 644-8565

Mon.-frl. 9-6 E Saturday 9-3

Metro Dealer for Over 35 Yuan

Furniture
Refinishing,
Upholstery
Fabrics,
and Restoration Custom Paints,
Wall Coverings
and Window
Treatments

1204 S. Woodward, Royal Oak (lust North of 696)

810-548-9515

L—I C=3 g7

ffi—ART GALLERY

Specializing In

Fine
European
Original
Estate

Art

Stop By
and
Visit Our New

Contemporary
Art Gallery

Tues.-Sat. I I to 5:30
Or By Appointment

104

6335 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD
WEST BLOOMFIELD
ORCHARD MALL
OFFICE 810-855-2160

Missions Very Possible:
B'nai Mitzvah In Israel

GABE LEVENSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

p

affair, the Israel journey, Dr,
happily, a multi-faceted combi-
nation of all three. In any event,
the operative word remains —
simchah, an occasion of great joy
which the family will ever re-

first reading of the Torah, the
delivery of a dereshah, the rab-
bi's priestly blessing and the
joyous simchah which follows.
That celebration ranges from
a modest wine-and-cake kiddush
in the synagogue immediately

member.
The formal rite of passage
itself did not crystallize until the
15th century, according to most
historians. Although the status
of obligation (the fulfillment of

arents planning • the
bar/bat mitzvah for their
child have many options
in determining how best
to conduct both the religious
event itself — the boy's or girl's

—

after the ceremony, all the way
up to catered affairs which can
take on the proportions of a
three-ring extravaganza, not un-
like the potlatch at which a
Northwest American Indian
family would display its wealth,
or its contempt-thereof, by toss-
ing, or pretending to toss, all its
worldly possessions into a
gigantic, public bonfire.
In the last 25 years or so, par-
ents have discovered another
option — a trip to Israel by the
honoree with his/her immediate
family, or a larger group, for a
bar/bat mitzvah in front of the
Western Wall, atop Masada, on
the ridge of Mt. Scopus or at
some other favored place in the
Holy Land.
Parents and child may opt for
the basic kiddush, the catered

the 613 mitzvot) was established
in the Talmud centuries earlier,
the assumption of religious and
legal maturity was formalized i ---\
at this later date. It was initial-
ly for boys who had reached the
age of 13 years, plus one day;
and it required the passage of
almost five centuries before girls
who had achieved the age of 12,
plus one day, were granted the
same recognition.
Such a special ceremony fol±\
girls is not mentioned before Ben
Ish Hai, the legal code written
by Joseph Hayyim ben Elijah, in
the late 19th century. The prac-
tice, perhaps a begrudged recog-
nition of the improved status of
women, was initiated in France
and Italy. However, the bat
mitzvah did not spread to thcc– \
United States until the early
20th century — a consequence,