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Raised in a rural Ethiopian village, B. he said he grew up observing Jewish traditions but never celebrated a bar mitzvah before immigrating.
By Shula Rosen
Roughly 20 lone soldiers who completed conversion during their military service held bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies Monday at the Western Wall, marking the milestone for the first time in uniform, organizers told Ynet.
The ceremonies were organized by the nonprofit Big Brother for Lone Soldiers in cooperation with the Western Wall Heritage Foundation and brought together male and female soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces who do not have immediate family in Israel.
Participants included soldiers who completed the Nativ conversion program during their service.
Among those taking part was B., 22, a combat soldier in the Nahal Brigade who immigrated from Ethiopia about two years ago with the intention of enlisting.
He is expected to complete basic training in about a month. Raised in a rural Ethiopian village, he said he grew up observing Jewish traditions but never celebrated a bar mitzvah before immigrating.
“I always dreamed of coming to Israel and being a soldier in the IDF. For me, Israel is the place where I can realize my identity and be part of my people,” he said.
“I grew up in a home that observed Shabbat and celebrated the Jewish holidays, but I did not celebrate a bar mitzvah. I always felt that something was missing, so the moving ceremony at the Western Wall gives me a sense of wholeness and closure,” he told Ynet.
B. is supported through the organization’s mentoring program by volunteer Uzi Brenner, 35, who immigrated from Buenos Aires in 2010 and also served as a combat soldier in the Nahal Brigade.
Brenner said he met B. when the soldier enrolled in a Hebrew-language course at the Michve Alon base, which prepares new immigrants for military service.
“When he received a computer for the first time in his life, I connected him with someone who could teach him how to use it in Amharic so it would be accessible and help him move forward,” Brenner said.
About 150 additional lone soldiers and volunteers joined the participants in a procession with Israeli flags and music to the Western Wall plaza. The ceremonies included the laying of tefillin, Torah readings for male soldiers and bat mitzvah observances for female soldiers.
The event was dedicated to the memory of Staff Sgt. Jonathan Dean Haim, a combat engineering soldier who immigrated from the United States, converted during his service and was killed in combat in the southern Gaza Strip in December 2023 at age 25.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites, blessed the soldiers and described the ceremonies as a reflection of Jewish continuity and collective responsibility.
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