On March 14, Joseph Borman became one of the few boys to celebrate his bar mitzvah in Mbombela.
“The Jewish community in Nelspruit is very small. There are only about three or four families,” said Lisa Borman, his mother.
Since there is no synagogue in Mbombela, Joseph’s bar mitzvah took a bit of a different character to more traditional ones.
“It was unique, because we did it in a bush setting. Usually it’s done in a community hall or in the synagogue.”
There is also no rabbi in the area, so the Borman’s had the “Travelling Rabbi”, Moshe Silberhaft, brought in to oversee the ceremony.
“The bar mitzvah is the time in a Jewish boy’s life when at the age of 13 he progresses from a boy to being expected to behave like a man and be responsible for all the obligations bestowed upon a Jewish male,” he explained.
A major part of any bar mitzvah is reading from the Torah in Hebrew. Joseph had online lessons throughout lockdown to learn the correct pronunciation of the Hebrew script.
“The portion you read from the Torah has no vowels or punctuation. So you have to be aware of where to stop. You aren’t allowed to touch the Torah so you use a long silver stick to follow the words on the paper,” said Lisa.
“Joseph loved it. It was great to be surrounded by the community. We are so proud of him!”
Silberhaft travels to remote areas where the Jewish communities are small, not only in South Africa, but in nine other African countries as well.
“I have been doing this for 28 years and love it,” he said.
Silberhaft and the Borman family’s relationship is not new. He officiated Joseph’s parents’, Lisa and Craig’s, wedding in Botswana.
This article was originally published in the Lowvelder.
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