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Bar Mitzvah Service in Israel/Basketball Themed Party In New York

Bar Mitzvah Service in Israel/Basketball Themed Party In New York

The Taub family from Rye Brook, New York traveled to Israel to celebrate son Zachary’s (Zack) Bar Mitzvah ceremony. Friends and family joined them in Israel for a week of touring and special dinners. Two months later there was a Final Four basketball themed celebration back home in New York.

Everything centered around basketball as well as the importance of being a team player. Since the party was held on April Fools Day, the Taub family wasn’t fooling around, well maybe just a little, as you will see the date was cleverly worked in to the theme of the evening, All Four One (4/1).

Pictured above L-R: Dad Daniel, Sister Lily, Bar Mitzvah boy Zachary and Mom Jacey.

The photographers were Jordan Polevoy in Israel and Lucibelle Photography in New York. The rest of the vendor information is listed at the end of the spotlight.

 Bar Mitzvah Service In Israel

Celebrating Zack’s Bar Mitzvah at the beginning of the trip set the tone for the week. It was special to incorporate family artifacts and traditions into their service. In addition to traveling with Zack’s great-great grandfather’s wine, there was a prayer book Zack read from that his great, great grandmother carried with her on the boat from Poland when she escaped the atrocities there.

Zack surrounded by his family and friends
The Bar Mitzvah ceremony took place on Masada in Israel. Zack wore the tallis that his Dad Daniel wore when he became a Bar Mitzvah. It was a deeply moving experience and one to remember for many years to come
The photographer used a drone to capture them floating in the dead sea!
The family brought wine (in their suitcase) made by Zack’s Hebrew namesake, his great-great-grandfather
A custom "Save the Date" was sent out a year in advance. Inside were plastic travel kits from So Zily, Mom Jacey's graphic design/party favor company!
Mom Jacey was told it rains a lot in Israel in February so she sent out a great travel pullover rain jacket. Everyone loved it, although it didn't rain once!
Guests also received travel pillows which hold iPads and can turn into a neck pillow. They were embroidered with the Hebrew equivalent of "Bon Voyage" on the front and "February 2017” written below in English

Bar Mitzvah Logo’s and Taglines

Mom Jacey designed the basketball logos. The silhouettes are the same one used on the invitations - which are Zack! The date was cleverly worked into the theme of the evening, “All Four One (4/1)!”
This logo was also used on the favors
Additional logo used on the back of the sweatshirts
The logo for the Israel celebration was designed by Simcha Design is Zack's Hebrew name in the shape of Israel. The names on the outside are all of the family members who traveled with them

 New York Celebration

This basketball family wanted a place where they could party with their friends and still watch the the Final Four games without everyone around a big TV. The Westchester County Center was the perfect venue.

The family worked with Leslie Goldberg of Out of the Box NY for their invitation. The graphics and wording were all done by Mom Jacey. The silhouettes are actually Zack!
Zack on the venue steps. Custom signage was hung outside and lit up
The court was divided in half so the evening could start with a fun cocktail hour on one side and dinner on the other
Large screens aired the games around the court, which was turned into a custom logo'd dance floor
The outside signs are all LED so all of his logos were lit up for the evening and also ran on the LED ticker that ran around the court inside

Bar Mitzvah Food 

All the food was basketball themed. At the "Zack Shack," a "slider bar" guests could make their own slider during the cocktail hour and included: eggplant, chicken parmesan, chicken cutlet, beef and veggie sliders
The "Spud Webb" station was a potato bar featuring French fries, sweet potato fries, tater tots, potato skins and waffle fries. Guests had the choice of lots of toppings
They were served in cool branded trays similar to the ones you find in a stadium
Quotes from famous basketball coaches, along with the silhouettes, were used on the napkins
Plastic cups featured one of Zack's logo

Bar Mitzvah Moments

The Taub family had a short Havdalah service at the beginning of the New York celebration. Instead of having formal candle lighting, all guests were given a candle to participate. The special Havdalah candle was the same one the family burned their last night in Israel
To also incorporate their trip the family asked guests to write a letter to the Israeli soldiers that they met when they visited a base in the West Bank during their time in Israel. A photo of Zack with those soldiers was on display for all to see

Bar Mitzvah April Fools

This celebration fell on April 1, so this family couldn't resist a few jokes like naming the flavored vodkas: lox, taco and pizza!
Additionally, Jell-O shots were made to look like real drinks so when guest’s tried to drink them, they couldn’t…. Ha Ha Ha! Another gotcha moment from the Taub family!

 Bar Mitzvah DJ Entertainment

The Total Entertainment dancers wore custom t-shirts
Zack made his entrance on the shoulder of a dancer
MC Chris Porter has awesome energy and did a fantastic job interacting with all of the guests
Basketball jersey's and wristbands were given out on the dance floor
Zack's guests look great in them!

Interactive Fun

Guests of all ages dived into a ball pit filled with mini basketballs which made for fun aerial shots
A “Nike by You” kiosk was on hand to facilitate a shoe contest where the guests designed a custom pair of Nike sneakers. Throughout the evening, everyone voted for the top three designs. The three winning designs were sent to Nike and then to their individual creators!

Bar Mitzvah Favors

All these great favors were done by Mom Jacey's company So Zily. Zack's friends went home with a custom gym bag with his logo printed on the front
Friends found this shirt inside each bag
On the inside of each shirt was a special note from Zack written in his own handwriting and printed on each shirt
Custom Happy Feet slippers that looked like basketball sneakers were placed in each kid's cubby to wear instead of socks. They were comfortable but more importantly left no marks on the basketball court floor
Basketball jerseys were given out on the dance floor. T-shirts were worn by dancers and staff. Some had a glittered version of the silhouette!
For the adults, beautiful Hamsa zip pouches from Israel held Israeli gum and rubber bracelets letting them know a donation to Brothers for Life had been made by the Taubs
"Game Over" sleep masks were handed out as guests left the party

Mitzvah Exit Treats

Zack loves to eat dry cereal as a meal, as a snack, any time of day or night. So they thought it would be fun to build on that idea and let people make their own cereal mixes the same way that they would make a candy bag at the end of the night
A custom cereal box was created
"Zack Facts"
Guests had a great time finding the words that describe basketball and Bar Mitzvahs

Mom Advice from Jacey

“I tried to focus on what this life cycle event really meant. I attempted asking Zack questions to spark conversations about his Torah portion and remind him how lucky we were to live in a country where we could practice our religion however we wanted. Everyone loves a great party, but I felt it was important to remember why we were celebrating. I would advise not to discuss your event with other parents because stress breeds stress. It was important to us to incorporate tradition, family, friends and our meaningful Israel trip into our party.

There were a lot of details to keep track of. I think my lists had lists! I found Mitzvah Organizer to be incredibly helpful keeping these lists organized. It was very user friendly and if I ever had a question, someone got back to me immediately. All of the information (phone numbers, addresses, contacts, gifts, thank you notes, and number totals!) for every event — the trip, the service, the morning event, the game, the party – was in one place and always accessible. Priceless, really! Also having a planner like Monique Banks was a huge help. One of Monique’s greatest talents is the ability to have an overall vision of the evening.  She was able to execute and help manage all of the details.  Additionally, we have a lot of out of town family. Monique handled all of the day of preparation, so we were able to enjoy being with them. We knew that everything was being set up the way we wanted it to be.

Lastly, remember that the evening flies by in a millisecond so don’t freak out about the little things. If something goes wrong, no one knows but you. I gave both of my kids a talk before their respective Mitzvah parties about their energy setting the tone for the evening. I am a true believer that the things which make a good party great, are organic. It is all about the feeling in the room.”

Zack Mitzvah Project

The Taub family felt strongly that although Zack’s Bar Mitzvah service was held in Israel, they wanted more than just a big birthday party at The Westchester County Center. They accomplished this by inviting friends to The Mann Center, part of the Jewish Board’s Hawthorne Cedar Knolls (HCK) Residential Treatment Center  to give back. This is a home that provides mental health, social, and therapeutic services for at-risk youth. Additionally, while in Israel, the Taub family volunteered with a great organization called, Brothers for Life whose mission is to empower injured combat soldiers. 

All Zack's friends were invited to the gym at the Mann center and replaced the nets, painted murals on the walls as well as bricks to stop a certain part of the outside from flooding every time it rained as part of the importance of Tikkun Olum Hebrew for "repairing the world"
Everyone who attended that day received a t-shirt. The "Westchester Knicks" logo on the front and "Mitzvah Mentality" on the back!
Zack also raised funds by selling rubber bracelets that read, “All 4.1 and One For All” and included the Westchester Knicks and Jewish Board logos. The money raised purchased a court-side VIP table for the teens to watch the Westchester Knicks home games
When the morning was finished, everyone went to the LAST home Westchester Knicks game at the County Center together
In Israel, these soldiers invited 27 members of Zack’s family ages 3–73 to play basketball with them “their way”…. in wheelchairs

Vendor Directory

The following vendors helped to make Zack’s Bar Mitzvah special. If you give any of them a call, let them know you read about their services on MitzvahMarket.com

Venue: Westchester County Center, 914-995-4057
Invitation Idea and Wording: Mom Jacey/Executed: Leslie Goldberg, Out of the Box, 914-934-2323 
Favors/Logo/Silhouettes: So Zily, 917-680-8377
Party Planner: Monique Banks, Party! by Monique, 914-714-2527
Music: MC Chris Porter, Total Entertainment, 201-894-0055
New York Photographer: Tiffany Oelfke, Luciebelle Photography, 718-858-4328, 917-291-0095
Israel Photographer: Jordan Polevoy, jordan@vexa.com, +972 52-399-2969, 505-375-0005
Videographer: Steve Portney, SLP Video Productions, 914-282-1616
 Israel Logo: Shira Rosenbaum, Simcha Design, contact@simchadesign.com
Décor: Great Neck Games, 516-747-9191
Mitzvah Project Rubber bracelets: So Zily, 917-680-8377
Sign-In Board: Amazon
Mom Jacey Dress: J&A Estrada, 914-219-8700/Lily’s dress: Bloomingdales 
Suits: ZLife, Rye Brook, 914-937-5433
Stylist: New York Style Editor, Tish Richard, 917-796-8708
Hair: Asher & Tonya Khafizov Numi & Co, 914-921-6864
Makeup: Valerie Guglielmo, 914-320-0944
Transportation: Red Oaks Transportation, 914-694-2222

 

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