Three Jewish men at San Quentin finally celebrated their Bar Mitzvah last September during the Jewish month of Elul. Bar Mitzvah is a significant moment for Jews, somewhat resembling Confirmation in Christian churches, when a person accepts adult responsibility within the faith. It usually takes place when a Jewish male is 13 but for these three men it had not been possible.
The three were Edward Horowitz, John Sklut, and JulianGlenn Padgett. The ceremony was led by Chaplain Carole Hyman and drew a gathering of friends and free staff. In Hebrew the word Bar Mitzvah means “son of the commandment.” Chaplain Hyman said, “Eddie was my first Bar Mitzvah here at San Quentin. Prior to that I did a naming ceremony here, too. All the Bar Mitzvahs were such wonderful events.”
The ceremonies began with Horowitz who said, “This was a day that I had long waited. I was denied my Bar Mitzvah when I was 13 due to the fact my family moved to the jungles of India.” Asked how he prepared for his special moment, Horowitz said, “The first thing I had to do was to re-learn Hebrew. I had studied for my original Bar Mitzvah back in 1965. That was 44 years ago.”
Asked about his feelings regarding the Beth Shalom congregation at San Quentin, Horowitz said, “I feel very lucky and blessed to have transferred here from Ironwood. Chaplain Hyman encourages all of us to get involved.
“My family, they were extremely happy to hear of my Bar Mitzvah, and how the entire congregation supported me during the event.”
FOR OVER A YEAR
John Sklut said, “I worked together with a friend from Beth Shalom here at San Quentin for over a year. First and foremost was learning my Cantillation… It’s one thing to be able to read and understand Hebrew. But then I started learning how to read the tropes, the Cantillation signs. With the sounds of each trope, Hebrew took on a whole different level… I sang before G-d from the depths of my soul. It touched something in me that was primordial that I didn’t know existed.”
THOUSANDS OF YEARS
As for the significance of his Bar Mitzvah in the greater sense of Jewish community, Sklut said, “My Bar Mitzvah was an affirmation both to the community and to G-d to fulfill the Mitzvah and be responsible to our community and to the world.”
Padgett said, “It was challenging and spiritually invigorating at the same time. It took me over a year to learn to chant the tropes that are thousands of years old. Chanting Noach was my personal conversation with Hashem. For me that was incredible in every way, because my Bar Mitzvah makes me a son of the commandment now – a true part of our living Torah.”
