Barmitzvah boy Elie is the son of Edgware and District Reform Synagogue minister Rabbi Neil Kraft. He grew up in Streatham and his family came to Edgware in 2002. He attends JFS, where he is a member of the choir. A budding cartoonist, his other passions are trampolining, wrestling and PlayStation. He intends to donate some of his barmitzvah money to charity
What was special about your simchah?
Loads of kids at school came up to me saying: “Is your dad doing your barmitzvah?”, and I said: “Yes, he is.” At that point I never really thought it was a big deal, but in the event I was really pleased and excited because a father doing his own son’s barmitzvah is a really emotional thing. My uncle and a family friend from America came over as well.
Tell us about the ceremony
A special thing was that I led part of my service. I got to say stuff like “turn to page...”. People thought I was really good. I got a lot of “mazeltovs” and it was really nice. And on the day, my eight-year-old brother Oscar did Anim Zemirot [the song at the end of the service]. It was special because no one thought that he would do it. Everyone complimented him. I think it boosted his confidence immensely.
Tell us about the celebrations
I chose not to have a party, but I did have family and close friends back for lunch at my house. Everybody had a good time.