Studying for and Celebrating B'nai Mitzvah Despite Economic Strain

Alita is separated from Fernando’s dad, and does not have steady employment. Though Fernando’s father contributes whatever he can when he lands stint work painting houses or laying tile, Alita and Fernando require further assistance. JDC provides them a COTO supermarket debit card to buy food, and through its job network Alita gets a bit of temporary work. "If not for the help that JDC gives me, I don't know where I'd be or what I would do to satisfy my son's needs," she confesses.

Until three years ago, Fernando was attending a public school. He was held back in first grade and then, years later, had to repeat fifth grade, too. Despite their economic problems, Alita decided that Fernando should leave the public school system and switch to a Jewish school for more individual attention. JDC provided scholarship funding for Fernando to attend the Bialik School, and when it shut down, to go to the Weitzman School, where he is fed a nutritious lunch daily through the JDC sponsored Meitiv Lunch Program.

At the Weitzman School, Fernando started to feel his Jewish identity in a way that was totally new for him. Thanks to contact with his peers and learning Hebrew and Jewish history, Fernando told Alita that he wanted to reaffirm his Jewishness and have a Bar Mitzvah.

Delighted with her son's choice, Alita immediately sought financial assistance for the training and ceremony in order to fulfill his wish. A representative at the Social Assistance Center told her about IAAMOD — a JDC program that provides financial assistance for children to prepare for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah and have a celebration.

When Fernando started his Bar Mitzvah course with the help of IAAMOD, the rabbi spoke with him about having a circumcision. He accepted the responsibility without hesitation; he wanted to be Jewish and was willing to do whatever was necessary to achieve that goal.

After much preparation, Fernando celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at the Weitzman School in the presence of his mother and father's relatives. Alita's family chipped in to buy Fernando a gold Magen David, which he will treasure along with the tallit given to him by JDC, which he says he will put in safekeeping "until I give them to my own sons when they become B'nai Mitzvah."