The Israel Defense Forces Widows and Orphans Organization will hold a special Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration for 45 IDF orphans on Thursday afternoon at the Jerusalem Theater. IDF Chief Rabbi Rafi Peretz will present the children with their first set of Tefillin and conduct a special service in which they will be called-up to the Torah alongside Chief IDF Cantor Shai Abramson.
This year the Israeli youngsters will be joined by an American boy from Washington who lost his father in Afghanistan and will celebrate his Bar mitzvah with them. This is the second year that the annual event won't be held at the Western Wall because of security concerns.