My sister pretends like she can't organize a party or a large family Shabbos, but she is so wrong! Shlomo's Bar Mitzvah party was in a shul hall in Beit Shemesh. We walked in to tables set with linens and fruit cups in goblets. The center pieces were home made cupcakes with molded chocolates in the shape of tefillin and fondant straps on hand made tiered cake platters. Instead of your traditional sign in board she took a page from Shlomo's love of agriculture and had everyone fill out a leaf to attach on a paper tree. The party started as family from near and far (LA, NY, various Israeli cities) gathered and Shlomo completed Mishnayos for his siyum. Food was plentiful and tasty, the speeches were humorous and relevant and not too long, the guitar and drum players were just enough for a dance or two and the cotton candy was just that bit of "bubbe" coming through. My kids and husband were starting to fade and crash so we left around 10, but I heard the festivities continued for a bit longer.
Friday night we ate dinner on their mirpesset (porch/balcony) with 20 Solomons, Bermans and Rosenthals. Again the food was delish and the tables set with care. Nachman took a turn at providing entertainment by going around the table and having everyone share a highlight of the year.
Shacharis could have been great, we will never know as not a Solomon made it to shul at all let alone 8:30 am. Lunch was indoors where the air conditioning lives and finished off with ice cream topped with date honey, pistachios and shredded halva. Yum!
After lunch we returned to our house for nap time. Oh the magic of Treesim (the we-mean-business black out shutters) The big kids were free to roam, so with Bailey napping in a pitch black room, we got to take a 4 HOUR NAP. All that was left of Shabbos was Seudat HaShlishit (more food) and havdalah.
thanks for the update!
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