Simchah of the week: Jonathan Shapiro

Barmitzvah at Kol Nefesh Masorti in Edgware, Jonathan lives in Mill Hill, attends Immanuel College and is a member of the 16th Edgware scouts

What was special about your simchah?
Sharing the weekend with so many friends and family, including two of my three cousins who came over from Israel, even though it meant them missing school. Unfortunately, my eldest cousin couldn’t come because he had just gone into the army. I was pleased to be able to twin my barmitzvah with Ya’ackov, a young Ethiopian boy from Kfar Saba. He had never had a birthday party before, let alone a barmitzvah celebration.

Tell us about the ceremony
For me it was the most important part of the weekend. Kol Nefesh is a small, warm and welcoming community. It was the first time that lots of our guests had been to our shul and they really enjoyed it. Our rabbi Joel Levy made the service really fun by explaining each parshah before I leyned it. He knows me very well and he made his drashah [sermon] really personal, interweaving it with words to me — everyone said that he captured my character brilliantly. The Torah was handed down from my grandparents to my parents to me and my parents recited a lovely blessing. My Israeli cousin has a fantastic voice and led the singing of Adon Olam.

Tell us about the celebration
On the Friday night, my family including my grandparents, went to my oldest friend’s house for dinner and I chose the menu. On Shabbat afternoon our family and some of our closest friends came to the house and we had a seudah and then havdalah. The big party was a lunch at Edgware Reform shul with Israeli and ‘simchah’ dancing. I really enjoyed being lifted up on the chair. My best friends, parents and brother all made speeches which luckily weren’t too embarrassing. We had delicious food with a special kids’ menu (pasta and goujons and chips — my favourite!).Everyone agreed that it had been a totally amazing weekend.