All over. that is. but in the Soviet Union where the teaching of the Jewish religion and the practice of its rituals and ceremonies are forbidden. Therefore. as Elyce Turner participates in her service of Bat Mitzvah tomorrow evening. she has decided to share it with a 13yearold Soviet youngster. Lena Barber of Beltsy in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. who with her family has neither been allowed to emigrate from Russia to Israel nor been permitted to learn about or practice her religion. Elyce thus is a participant in a new program which has been begun by the Long Island Committee for Soviet Jewry called Twinning. in which an American youngster agrees to dedicate his or her Bar or Bat Mitzvah to a Soviet refusenik child. Elyce will read a statement at her own Bat Mitzvah telling the congregation about Lena and how she is acting as her surrogate on this most important of occasions for her. Rabbi Stanley Wernick. the spiritual leader of the East Northport Jewish Center will also include Lena and her family in his Bat Mitzvah remarks and prayers. pointing out the empty chair that will be located on the dais with the Soviet youngsters name attached to it. In addition. Elyce has pledged that she will send a prayer book and a copy of her Bat Mitzvah invitation to Lena and will write to her on a biweekly basis until she and her family are allowed to emigrate to Israel to be reunited with their grandparents living there. Mr. Speaker. it is particularly significant that Elyce is sharing her Bat Mitzvah with Lena on this particular Friday evening. because it marks the celebration of the Festival of Succoth on the Jewish calendar. the holiday which commemorates the first free settlement of Israel following the exodus.
Keywords matched
emigrate