Adam's barmitzvah: the last brunch
We finished off Adam's barmitzvah celebrations today, by doing something that we really didn't do enough of yesterday: eating! Hahahahaha... yeah right, as if we needed to eat more this weekend. This morning's brunch was an informal little affair, at the Goldstein house, where we just kinda popped in and shmoozed for a bit. The brunch was catered separately to yesterday's big lunch, which was insane — as yesterday's lunch has provided the Goldsteins with enough leftovers to end world hunger in 22% of Africa. Anyway, nice morning finale to the simcha.
Adam's barmitzvah: the big day
This was it: today was Adam's barmitzvah! In the morning, we had the service and the torah call-up; and in the afternoon, we had a colossal lunch in the shul hall. All of this was at the conservative synagogue that my cousins go to, just down the road from their house in Newton Center. Adam did a great job on stage: read his portion very confidently, and gave a solid and well-intentioned speech. And needless to say, the lunch was scrumdiddlyumptious.
The New York cousins
Adam and Becca's cousins from New York are great guys, and they came up specially for the occasion. Can't remember the name of the 15-year-old kid and his friend, but Josh is 17, and is endeavouring (with little success) to master a good Aussie accent. These three boys kept me company for much of the celebrations — good to have some mates around, since I didn't know many other people here.
Adam's barmitzvah: shabbat dinner
Adam's barmitzvah celebrations began tonight, at the Goldstein house, with a fully-catered shabbat dinner. Big crowd — much of the extended family arrived this evening, mainly from New York and Philadelphia — and plenty of new (and very distantly-related) relatives to meet. The food was great, and it flowed from the kitchen in copious quantities. A very nice, heimische start to the simcha.