Bar mitzvah boy’s generous gift

A 12-year-old Australian boy has raised $4000 to fund the bar mitzvah celebration of a boy at Boys Town Jerusalem, through the school’s Barmitzvah Twinning Program.

The Australian boy, Caleb, was connected through the program with Uriel, a 12-year-old student at the Jerusalem school, as he prepared for his own bar mitzvah.

Caleb set himself the challenge of completing 13 sponsored “long walks” in honour of his bar mitzvah. Friends and family followed his progress as he shared updates from walks around Australia and during a family trip to Italy. By the time he completed the challenge, Caleb had raised almost twice his original goal.

The funds paid for Uriel’s bar mitzvah celebration, which his family could not otherwise afford.

Uriel moved to Israel from South America with his parents this year. The family has no relatives in Israel and is in severe financial hardship.