Celebrating Bar and Bat Mitzvah in Port Harcourt
Port Harcourt, a rich oil city off the Atlantic southern coast of Nigeria, is home to more than twelve Jewish communities found within and outside the state capital. If my memory serves me well, I have visited the state four times in the last couple of years. In 2022, I visited the state to arrange interviews for the Guardian newspaper in London, but the purpose of my visit in 2018 and my most recent visit is strikingly similar. Back then, it was at the early stage of my Jewish journalism career, and I was in the company of William Miles and Rabbi Franklin, going beyond Abuja and discovering existing, new, and emerging Jewish synagogues in Southern Nigeria.
The most memorable event of the 3-day Franklin-Miles tour of Rivers State in 2018 was a double bar mitzvah at Yesharim Synagogue. Tovia Yahudereck from Beit Chessad in Aba was one of the celebrants, while Shimshon, the son of the leader of the host synagogue in Port Harcourt, was the other. Remarkably, three visitors from the United States attended the occasion, bringing joy to the young celebrants and their families. Six years after that vibrant occasion, I made my way back to the state capital for the bar mitzvah of Avraham Ben David, along with two other young boys and a bat mitzvah girl from B’nei Avraham in Ozoboko, just outside Port Harcourt.
I first met Avraham in 2018 during the opening of the guest house at Tikvat Israel Synagogue in Abuja. Many have admired Avraham as a special young lad, perhaps due to his payot and love for Judaism, which he developed as a child under the guidance of his mother, Keleyah, who is equally vibrant and enthusiastic. Apart from the fact that he has been featured in an international Jewish magazine and his photo gone viral, one of the things that attracted me to him was that we share similar Jewish names—Avraham Ben Avraham—although which was later changed to Ben David in his case. Avraham and some other young children are part of the children group in Gihon Hebrew Synagogue in Abuja, headed by Shlomo Yaakov, who tutored these children in creative Judaism through display in presentation and stage performance.
Before the pandemic in 2019, I ran into Avraham in Onitsha during the national youth seminar, which had in attendance youths from 10 states across the federation numbering over 250. The one-week-long event featured lectures, training, art and crafts, Hebrew learning, and a grand Shabbat service. It ended with Gershom and Gila breaking the glass in a colorful Nigerian wedding. The seminar rated the Gihon Hebrew Synagogue’s presentation as one of the best children’s group performances. The children have mastered the act of teamwork and perfection in their display, showing confidence and enthusiasm in all they do. Without a doubt, the national gathering provided them with a platform to showcase their Jewish talents, thereby making them immensely popular among the Jewish community in Nigeria. Since that national gathering, we’ve only cherished those wonderful memories, as there hasn’t been another event of this nature until now. Another noteworthy seminar activity was how participants witnessed a simcha jubilation as Peretz Ben Kish was called to the Aliyah.
In the subsequent months, Avraham and his mother moved from Abuja to Southern Nigeria, joining the Aaron Hakodesh Synagogue. However, shortly after the synagogue moved to the outskirts of the state capital recently, Avraham and his mother became members of the Yesharim Synagogue. Interestingly, a month before his bar mitzvah, Avraham and his mother were travelling overland to Abuja at the invitation of Rabbi Uzan of Chabad. The rabbi, a long-time admirer of Avraham, shared stories about the young lad with one of his visitors from France, who eagerly anticipated meeting the bar mitzvah boy. The gathering turned into a community event, with approximately 40 individuals assembled at Gihon Hebrew synagogue to welcome Rabbi Uzan and the guest from France, Aaron.
Aaron was overjoyed to see the bar mitzvah boy and treasured his first experience with some of the Nigerian Jews in Abuja. Aaron was a convert who performed his bar mitzvah at the age of 70. At the end of the gathering, everyone present would receive a pack of matzah for Pesach, a gift from Chabad in honor of Avraham. Ahead of his scheduled bar mitzvah in Port Harcourt, approximately 650 kilometers from Abuja, the young boy received gifts of shofar, tallit, siddur, and kippa.
On the 16th of December, the day everyone had been waiting for, the triple bar mitzvah of three boys and a bat mitzvah girl got underway at Yesharim Synagogue. Among the other celebrants were Emmanuel Shlomo, Avraham Michael, and Shirah Bat Nathanyahu. The day commenced with a shacharit prayer led by three chazanim. During the Torah service, the Sefer Torah was brought out, and the members joyfully danced around the synagogue, celebrating with vibrant energy. Following that, the three boys were called to the Torah while elder Yerimyahu ascended on behalf of Shirah, where Avraham read his own portion and also continued with the remaining portions of the other aliyot. As is customary, the parents were summoned, and they recited the prayer that henceforth absolves them from any additional sins committed by the children now that they have reached adulthood.
The peak of the event was when the congregation sang the “mazal tov-siman tov” song, with folks dancing in circles with the celebrants while stomping their feet on the ground in high spirits. Shortly after Aleinu, the congregation was entertained by a group of younger children who recited lengthy Jewish presentations in front of the audience, who showered them with gifts of cash after each presentation. Then, after a gift presentation and group photographs, everyone gathered outside the building in a smaller hall. They treated everyone to a delicious meal of jollof rice and fish, along with other local delicacies. Next, it was time to cut the celebration cake, which was two stunning cakes—one shaped like a beautiful female crown and the other a white masterpiece adorned with a magen, tallit, siddur, and a Torah scroll design.
Speaking to Avraham at the corner, he expressed gratitude to the Chabad Rabbis in Abuja and Lagos for their support and thanked everyone who attended the occasion, despite it being a busy Monday in the state. Ima Keleyah also conveyed her appreciation to all who contributed to making the day special and shared her hope for Avraham to attend a Yeshiva in Israel. Shirah, the bat mitzvah girl, offered a few words of thanks to everyone present at the event. Meanwhile, Yehudah, a member of the Meir Elohim Synagogue in Port Harcourt and a special guest called to the high table, shared an intriguing insight with me.
In the coming year, I think the state will be organizing a mass bar mitzvah for some interested male folks including fathers in Port Harcourt. This will enable us to pass through this very important Jewish mandatory ritual process, which many of us have never experienced due to our return to Judaism in our adult age
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