Bar Barakah

After an evening at ACA for Family Adventure Night, Brandon and I put Bailey to bed in her playpen at the school’s apartments (thanks Gretchen!) and hailed a taxi to a hotel a few blocks away.  Ariel, one of my current students, and Brandon’s former student, had turned 13 during the week and his family was hosing a Bar Barakah celebration for him (his sister turned 15 last year and we attended her quince, too).  It was a beautiful night full of blessings and honor being bestowed on Ariel. 

As the invitation explained, the Bar Barakah is the Christian take on the Bar Mitzvah celebrated by Jewish boys at the age of 13.  It’s a coming of age ceremony and also a time to bless the young man and dedicate him to the Lord as he enters manhood. 

The dinner was hosted on an outdoor patio next to the hotel’s pool.  It was a perfect evening temperature wise and Brandon and I enjoyed getting to practice our Spanish.  We sat with some parents of students and the pastors of the church Ariel’s family attended.  They were extremely patient with us and the pastors (who are bilingual) helped us out a lot. 

Ariel and his family 

After dinner, Ariel sat with his parents at a front table as his father explained the significance of the night and expressed his love for his son. It was beautiful.  His mother and sister also spoke words of blessing over his life, as did his small group leader from church and the pastor.  As a gift from his parents, Ariel was given a ring with an emblem of a lion on it (Ariel means “lion of God”), that he sported proudly for the rest of the evening.  

It was funny, though, that Ariel, after a ceremony ushering him into manhood, ran off to play hide-and-seek with his friends.  Definitely made me laugh.