THE TIMES OF ISRAEL had an article titled Rivlin’s ‘rabbi swap’ for bar mitzvah event angers Conservatives that reports on the barriers put in the path of "disabled boys" preventing their bar mitzvah.
The battle is political, albeit between the Conservative (Masoratri) movement in Israel and those hewing to the (Ashkenazi) Orthodox line. If the combatants truly were concerned about the children, there would be no battle.
There is no justification for the stupidity of the combatants.
Question: Was Abram "bar mitzvahed?" How about Yitzak? Yakov? How about Pinhas, the second high priest?
A case can be made that Moses and Aaron were "called to the Torah" when HaShem "invited" them to climb the mountain; that REALLY was "going up" to the Torah, but that is not the type bar mitzvah ceremony most often seen today.
BAR MITZVAH is automatic. Bat mitzvah, too. No need to be called to the Torah or to give a speech to the congregation. No need for a budget-busting celebration. Certainly no need for a rabbi or hazan and certainly no need for a professional politician.
The day after a boy turns 13 (or a girl turns 12), when the child performs his or her first mitzvah - מודה אני followed by נטיךת ידים - the child is a beni mitzvah. Period. End of story. Don't know the prayers? Then honoring parents will do. Put an earned coin in a tzedaka box; that also works.
It's a relatively new tradition for a boy to have an aliyah on the first opportunity after his 13th birthday and a day. It's an even newer tradition for a girl either to receive an aliyah (Conservative and Reform) or to give a Torah-based speech (some Orthodox).
Some interesting reading about the bar mitzvah as it developed check out
What is the Origin of the Bar Mitzvah celebration?
According to the Times of Israel article - don't shoot the messenger - apparently the Conservatives wanted to provide some "disabled" boys with a bar mitzvah. Kol haKavod.
They tried to involve the City of Rehovot in Central Israel, but Rehovot's politicians forbade the event. WHY they tried to involve a political entity in a religious event is beyond my ken.
Apparently the city's refusal to participate failed to generate enough "anti-Orthodox" press so the movement arranged to have the event hosted by Israel's new president who - also apparently - agreed providing any services included an Orthodox presence.
Then, according to the Times of Israel article, someone backed off and the president's place was supposed to be a venue for a post-ceremony party.
IT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACTS: The politicians-as-religious leaders used "disabled" children as "weapons" in an intra-religion war.
If the Conservatives really were interested in seeing that these disabled youngsters had an "aliyah" bar mitzvah they could easily have done it at any of the many (see map above) Conservative synagogues in Israel.
If that wasn't satisfactory - if the synagogues were too small to accommodate the crowd - the Conservatives could have rented a hall; that's what many Israelis - heloni and haredi - do for weddings and britot (been there, done that; ask to see the photos).
It seems to me that the Conservatives were looking to pick a fight and hoping for sympathetic headlines, maybe even a "tsk-tsk" from the UN Human Rights group, always ready to condemn anything Israeli.
If I was a Conservative I would be embarrassed by my rabbi/politicians.
