c. 2003 Religion News Service

NEW YORK _ For a handful of homeless New Yorkers, the lights of Hanukkah this year are burning with a renewed brightness.

Sponsored by Shabbat ORE, a program run by the Jewish social services agency the Educational Alliance, seven men and women became bar and bat mitzvah on Saturday (Dec. 20), the first day of the eight-day Jewish festival at Manhattan’s Conservative Town & Village Synagogue.

All of those called to the Torah were either homeless or had been homeless and were currently in some form of temporary housing, according to the Educational Alliance’s volunteer director. And while all were born Jewish, none had practiced for many years.

“It’s a way for me to reconnect spiritually to the faith,” said 63-year-old Marvin, who asked that his last name not be used. While he was raised Orthodox and celebrated his bar mitzvah at age 13, traditionally the age when Jews are welcomed into the community as adults, Marvin lost touch with Judaism in later life as he faced the challenges of living on the streets. He is now living in government-subsidized housing but said he faced eviction at the end of December.

Michael, 28, became bar mitzvah together with his mother, Rose. During a reception after Shabbat services, he said he attended Hebrew School as a youth but stopped when his mother could no longer afford to send him and scholarship money never came through. An eight-year client of Project ORE, which provides kosher meals, mental health counseling, and housing and job referrals, and involved with Shabbat ORE since its inception in 2000, he is currently unemployed but still volunteers. He runs Project ORE’s theater desk, helping people who lack the financial means to enjoy cultural events.

The head of the Educational Alliance, Robin Bernstein, highlighted the difference between her organization’s holistic approach and the more basic aims of some other charity agencies. “There’s a hierarchy of needs, and the first needs are shelter, clothing and food,” she said. But you can also relate to someone’s intellect and spirituality. Most programs forget that.”

Each week, Shabbat ORE offers a sabbath meal, prayers and opportunity for discussion of spiritual themes to about 25 homeless people and others on the margins of society. The majority are Jewish, though anyone can participate, and organizers do not ask questions regarding religion affiliation. The people who take part in both Project and Shabbat ORE, Bernstein said, “are disenfranchised from their families and communities. And now they can feel embraced by the Jewish community.”

Rose, Michael’s mother, spoke to the congregation during services about her estrangement from Judaism at a young age. After her father died, her mother, an Orthodox Jew who married a Lutheran and parted ways with her family as a result, faced severe financial difficulties. Turned away by a synagogue in the Bronx, she turned to other faith communities for help. “Other religions helped first before our own Jewish faith,” said Rose. “This colored my view for a long time.”

Participating in Project and Shabbat ORE, she said, changed her perspective and “reinforced the good qualities of our religion.”

Shabbat ORE’s benefits have reached beyond those who look forward to a hot meal and companionship every Saturday. Rosalie Osian, a student in a multifaith chaplain training program who leads Shabbat ORE’s prayers and reflections, said she had learned a great amount from those she ministered to.

“They’ve helped me as a chaplain. I’ve experienced a big growth development,” she said. “I’ve been able to be creative and use less formal ways of teaching. You have to be true to life’s questions. They’ve all been through so much, so you can’t sugarcoat suffering with them, and you can’t sugarcoat God.”

Osian came up with the idea of bar mitzvah classes for Shabbat ORE participants after she had an adult bat mitzvah. Although she now considers herself Conservative, she was raised Orthodox, which meant that as a girl she did not become bat mitzvah. After discovering interest on the part of several people, she and another volunteer led classes for 13 weeks on subjects like Torah rituals and the recital of prayers before putting on the tallit, or prayer shawl.

For all the people who celebrated their bar and bat mitzvah, their formal welcoming into the Jewish community marked a new chapter rather than the end of a story.

As Michael put it in his speech to the congregation, “Knowing I am a Jew is not enough. Learning what it is to be one is a lifelong lesson, and there are tools, like the Torah, and the stories, to help me rejoin my religion. It is a good beginning.”

DEA END CIPOLLA