Months after their barmitzvah plans were disrupted by the pandemic, ten Mill Hill Synagogue celebrants were finally called up in shul on Shabbat. 

The boys were joined by their parents and grandparents at a special service, complete with takeaway kiddush.

Many families were unable to celebrate barmitzvahs in the United shul during the past year, though some opted for the Zoom alternative. It normally hosts around 30 barmitzvahs annually.

One of the parents, Haley Sylvester, 48, complimented the shul for an event “done perfectly”.

Her son, Charlie, a JFS pupil, had celebrated at home last year, but the experience was “very different from standing on a bimah.

“He absolutely loved doing what we did at home but there’s something even more special about Saturday’s call up - just being in shul and with Rabbi [Yitzchak] Schochet and having his moment,” she told the JC. The gathering had also been especially meaningful for grandparents.

Another JFS mum, Simone Lyons, 44, said the service had given her son Oliver and the other boys “a little bit of a sense of belonging

“It was really special. My mum was a bit emotional about it. The fact that he was able to wear a tallis, be in shul, have his call up, be on the bimah. I’m so grateful for the shul to have given him this opportunity”.

Rabbi Schochet acknowledged the limitations of virtual gatherings.

“Many of them had had celebrations on Zoom with myself speaking to them at that point. But the fact that they now want to come back for an in-person experience demonstrates how Zoom achieved some things but never can compensate for the real thing.”

The service had given them a “sense of purpose”.

Rabbi Schochet also plans to host an evening for families bereaved in the past year. “I think it’s imperative that people who were denied being able to properly express themselves in the kaleidoscope of religious experience should be able to find opportunities to do so now,” he explained.