AN ARTICLE IN THE Times of Israel heded Nicki Minaj turns NY boys into men described an extravagant bar mitzvah party in which Nicki Minaj was the star attraction.
It is "guesstimated" by one media outlet to have cost the bar mitzvah's father between $200,000 to $300,000 to get the entertainer to do her "thing" in front of the 13-year-old, his pals, and some A-list guests, a few possibly Jewish.
Now, to answer the question posed by this entry's hed: What did the patriarchs and Moses have in common?
None had a bar mitzvah - at least NOT in the way of the 13-year-old who had his photo made being caressed by well-endowed entertainer.
The bar mitzvah party reported on by the Times of Israel obviously set the lad's dad back more than the few shekels the singer was paid, but it probably was not a record setter.
A quick Internet search for Most expensive bar mitzvahs turned up several pages of "hits," including
Coming in at #6 on the list of 10 Most Expensive Parties Ever Thrown is the Bar Mitzvah of Elizabeth Brooks – $10 million, which of course wasn't a "bar" mitzvah at all.
At only $10 million it was a cheap affair compared to a royal wedding ($70 million paid out by English taxpayers for Wm. & Kate's wedding). Still, Betty's BAT mitzvah was Number Two in its birthday category, surpassed only by the Sultan of Brunei’s 50th Birthday that cost a paltry $27.2 million.
Under the headline Philip Green gives £4 million party for his son's bar mitzvah… but no present the UK's Telegraph describes a three-day bar mitzvah party that dented dad's wallet by more than $6.2 million (a rough conversion of the 4 million quid stated in the hed).
Although the UK's Daily Mail hedlined in bold print Grandson of billionaire Vegas mogul Kirk Kerkorian celebrates coming of age with $450,000 Bar Mitzvah featuring star turns from Iggy Azalea and Nick Jonas, Saba Kerkorian comes a piker compared to Ms. Brooks' affair and Master Green's bash.
The National Post of Canada under the misleading hed of As bar and bat mitzvahs become more ‘over the top,’ parents say the Jewish tradition is still meaningful reported on 12-year-old Hannah Freeman's bat mitzvah at Toronto's Prince Hotel, complete with photos and video of the strapless gown the pre-teen wore.
Cost of the shindig was missing from the article; however, “Realistically, people are spending $10,000 to $100,000 on a bar or bat mitzvah,” said Jian Magen of the Magen Boys, one of the major entertainment acts for coming of age parties in the Toronto area. “In my world, it’s a lot of money, but [then again] Toronto is not New York.”
I understand it's a child's Big Day, but what really IS a bar or bat mitzvah?
First, it's a PERSON, not an event.
B* mitzvah means Son of (Bar) or Daughter of (Bat) mitzvah.
Religiously it means when a child performs his or her first independent mitzvah. Since few the the "authorities" have had the chutzpah to set mitzvah values (save for attending to the dead), one mitzvah should be as good as another.
Honor thy father and thy mother should be an easy way to start the day, A boy can don tallit and tefillin and - nes gadol (major miracle) - he's a bar mitzvah. A young lady lights Shabat candles or take trumah (hallah) from the bread and - voila! - she's a bat mitzvah.
Technically of course the status changes automatically when a child has his or her first pubic hair, but rabinically the event occurs when the child performs his or her first independent mitzvah.
P.S. Moroccan tradition holds that the father/parents do NOT recite Baruch sh'ptarani m’onsho shel zeh (“Blessed is He who free me from the penalties due to this one”). True, the child is a child of the commandments (mitzvot), but we are loath to relinquish the child to the "real world" at such a tender age. Different strokes for different folks.
