Gregory, one of boys in our synagogue, recently celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. Since our membership is so small, everyone at the temple was invited. I attended and had a wonderful time. The decorations were wonderful, the food was excellent and everyone had a tremendously good time.

Gregory loves sports of all kinds. The family went all out and made a video invitation. It was Gregory pretending he was a sports all-star being interviewed as the youngest person to ever win the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award. Not just in one pro-sport, but all of them! It was hilarious! At the end of the tape, he looked straight into the camera and invited everyone to the party to celebrate.

The banquet room at the temple was decorated with sports equipment and posters of famous sports figures hanging on the walls and from the ceiling. White tape was used to make the dance floor look like a basketball court. There was a freestanding backboard and hoop at the edge of the stage, over which hung a banner with trophies on it."Congratulations, Gregory!" was printed in blue and gold letters.

Travel games like pool, pinball and paddle ball were on every table. Adults and kids were playing with footballs and inflatable boxing gloves.

Some kids were dancing to modern music played by the DJ. Others were snacking on pretzels, chips and peanuts. There were soft drinks, iced tea, or water for the kids to drink and Corona beers or Sebastiani wines for the adults.

Everyone gathered in the temple for the Aliea La Tora. Gregory did a fine job. He made only one small mistake, but the only way anyone could tell was that his face turned bright red.

Back in the hall we watched a video. Gregory accepted his ‘Most Valuable Player’ trophies and gave an acceptance speech, thanking his team mates without whom he would have been unable to save the game in football, basketball, tennis, hockey and lacrosse! Gregory is very funny. He kept a straight face, even though the scene was ludicrous--which actually made it funnier.

As the applause died down everyone could hear the sound of music. It sounded as if it was getting closer. The doors opened and a tribute band entered, playing the "Rocky" theme. They walked straight to the dance floor and compelted the number. Gregory jogged down the centre of the dance floor wearing a boxing robe! It was wonderful!

Gregory sat at the table with his family and took off his robe. His grandfather performed the Hamotze before soup and salad were served. The children danced and played games like musical chairs and pass the balloon, which involved passing a small balloon from person to person using your chin and neck. The game didn't last long because all of the kids kept laughing and dropping the balloon on the floor. The kids ate hot dogs and pizza while the adults were served honey glazed roast chicken or beef.

After dinner Gregory thanked all of us for coming. Thirteen of his friends performed the Candle Lighting ceremony, which had a sports theme. Each candle had an image of a person playing a different sport.

Everyone danced, sang and took pictures until nearly midnight. Gregory's parents said a brief thank you to all the guests.

The party came to an end when the parents of Gregory's friends came to pick them up. It was well after midnight by then and we were all ready for bed. Each of the kids chose one of the travel games to take home as a memento of that entertaining night.