16 | JUNE 4 • 2020 

Some Jewish families get creative during lockdown rules.

Jews in the D

J

odi Michaelson’
s youngest 
son was scheduled to have 
his bar mitzvah on May 16, 
and even when the COVID-
19 pandemic hit this spring, 
Michaelson knew she didn’
t 
want to reschedule it. 
“From day one, I said, ‘
We’
re 
Jews. We can do this somehow,
’
” 
the Huntington Woods resident 
said. 
But with social distancing 
precautions in place, she had 
to get creative to make the day 

special for her son, Daniel, and 
the rest of their family. 
After finding out they could 
have Daniel’
s service in the 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek 
sanctuary — Michaelson is 
a member of the synagogue’
s 
board of trustees — she decided 
to make use of the synagogue’
s 
large parking lot and throw a 
surprise drive-in bar mitzvah 
party for her son. 
Daniel didn’
t know about the 
party until he walked out of the 
synagogue after finishing his 
service, which was only attend-
ed by his immediate family and 

grandparents but broadcast to 
friends and family over Zoom. 
“I’
m walking out; I’
ve got my 
mask down because I just got 
out and I see this huge amount 
of cars that are honking and … 
I am speechless,
” Daniel said.
In an effort to mimic the 
Shaarey Zedek kiddush lun-
cheons, Jodi ordered individ-
ual kiddush boxes from Bake 
Station for each car with a chal-
lah, some small beverage bottles 
and an assortment of Bake 
Station’
s signature treats. She 
also hired Star Trax to control 
traffic in the parking lot and 

make sure each car was parked 
far enough apart. 
The Michaelson family 
weaved through the parked 
cars, making sure to maintain a 
safe distance from all the guests, 
and hoisted Daniel up on a 
chair to do a parking lot horah. 
“It was just a wonderful, mar-
velous, unbelievable celebra-
tion,
” she said. “Everybody was 
just ready to sort of celebrate life 
again and celebrate good things, 
even if it’
s socially distant.
”
The Michaelsons weren’
t the 
only family figuring out how 
to celebrate a bar mitzvah that 

TOP LEFT: Daniel Michaelson is hoisted in the air during a horah at his modified bar mitzvah party. TOP RIGHT: Over 50 cars rolled into the Shaarey Zedek parking lot to 
celebrate Daniel Michaelson. BOTTOM LEFT: The Wittenberg family smiles outside of their Bloomfield Hills home. BOTTOM RIGHT: Waffle Way handed out waffles on a 
stick to guests as they drove by the Wittenberg house to celebrate Jonah’
s bar mitzvah.

COURTESY OF KATE SALER

Parking Lot Bar Mitzvah

MAYA GOLDMAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF JODI MICHAELSON

