This is a picture of my family that we took before my Bat Mitzvah service. We had a photographer and took pictures all together and also with my grandparents, on our block, outside the synagogue as well as in the synagogue. In the picture there is my dad, my mom and my sister Stella. It was a milestone event for me as well as my family. It happened in October of 2020 so there were many covid restrictions during the service too, which made the production and structure of it a little harder. I was only able to have 20 close family guests attend, and the rest of my family and friends joined on zoom. My close family and friends that could not come to my service were spotlighted onto the screen and got to hold up posters congratulating me for everyone to see. There were also masks involved and the chairs for people to sit on were socially distanced to help ensure a safe covid environment. My mom, dad and sister and I sat on chairs together on the Bema (stage), while the rest of our guests sat on chairs that were six feet apart from one another. Afterwards, we all went to a celebratory lunch together and we got to see our family after not seeing them for a very long time due to the pandemic.The significance of this photo on a larger level is that I am continuing my family’s tradition of Jewish milestones, and being a Bat Mitzvah which is a custom that my family has had fulfilled in previous years as well as many other jews. Overall, it was a very good experience because my family was all together safely even though we were in tough circumstances at the time. 

– SS

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more