The pictures have arrived! I’m happy to give you my first person view to the event, however you are also welcome to peruse and download photos for yourself. Just click on this LINK TO CALISOFF B’NAI MITZVAH PHOTOS.

Where shall we start? Perhaps at the entrance, where 141 name place cards were carefully placed for each and every guest. The week before this event, there were 130 names on this list. When Sam and Aaron made the guest list 8 months before, they were adamant that NO GIRLS be invited. Girls were yucky! Then a week before their own B’nai Mitzvah, they went to a school friend’s Bat Mitzvah. They woke up the next morning and decided that girls were not yucky, they were fun! They then proceeded to throw me in a frenzy by inviting 11 more people. I rushed an order for more name place cards and quickly emailed all the moms. It turned out fine and everyone was able to make the last minute invite. The girls were so good at organizing themselves that there was even a girl there who was not on the list!

Tables were arranged in rounds of 10 for the adults and two large table for the kids, one for each twin.

You can see the there is a balcony off to one side that overlooked the Chicago River. People used it to cool down during the evening. You may also notice I didn’t bother with table decorations, instead I printed photos of the twins, photoshopped numbers on them, laminated them and stuck them in stands.

While the adults cocktailed, the kids got up and told stories about Sam and Aaron.

Afterwards we asked Jessica to do the blessing on the wine and bread.

Next it was time for the speeches from Adam and I as well as Ben and Jack.

Next, while the adults were given their first course and the kids were playing games, they set up the montage. Then they sat the kids on the dance floor and played it.

The Emcee kept everything moving smoothly and pretty soon we were into the mother/son dance. Since they were twins, I enlisted my sister Lara as a second mom.

At some point the main course was served but I missed it, my body would not move off the dance floor…

No B’nai Mitzvah would be complete without dancing the Hora!

Besides the twins, Adam and I as well as Jack and Ben were lifted up.

And while all this was happening the photo booth was open all night. I chaperoned an over night trip for the twins last year and the girls in my dorm room now call me ‘Mom’. I managed to get a photo with them as well as many others.

Many other people enjoyed the photo booth too!

We also had a separate room filled with basketball games, foosball and air hockey.

It was popular for kids AND adults alike!

Of course, we commandeered the room for our own folly.

Yes, I’m wearing grip socks. We ordered Sam&Aaron B’Nai Mitzvah grip socks for anyone who didn’t want to dance in uncomfortable shoes. Many people used them. One even forgot their shoe! We picked it up and brought it home. Turns out the Cinderella of the evening was Adam’s sister Joy.

We also ordered candy boxes for take away presents for our guests.

I had such a great time and I hope everyone else did to. The next day I got a text from a friend of mine whose twins B’nai Mitzvah is next and she said it was a perfect event. I replied that means a lot, especially coming from her. After all, the most judgmental person in the room is the person who is having their kid’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah next…

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It was a long 5 years in the making. The twins started Hebrew School in 3rd grade. For years they spent two days a week going to the Temple, learning Hebrew and about the Jewish faith. In the last year, they upped it to 3 nights a week, adding a weekly session with a private tutor to learn their torah portion.

All this work culminated in their B’nai Mitzvah ceremony, where children of the Jewish faith are asked to lead a service and read from the Torah. After this ceremony you are considered an adult.

The weekend started with many people arriving and showing up to our house by Friday.

Friday evening we gathered with out-of-town guests at the bar of the Hotel Chicago Downtown, where the room block was booked, for cocktails and apps.

We had people coming from Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, and Utah.

It was so nice to spend time with some of these people before the event!

Saturday the twins had an afternoon service. The boys look so handsome in their new suits!

The ceremony was perfect. In large part because the twins did such an amazing job preparing for this moment. They presented with confidence and fluency.

We had many people get up and speak at the ceremony. My cousin Alexa started us off with a very heartfelt reading, followed by Adam’s cousin Brett. We have been lucky to continue to stay close to Brett as he has a second home here in Chicago and we get to see them sometimes when they are here.

Aaron went first, his portion was parshat Acharei-Mot. He gave a speech that spoke about how important second chances are and how everyone deserves them. He told a personal story about this, how he had a second change to try out for his soccer club, after being rejected the first time. He also spoke about his mitzvah project, making sandwiches for a church on the west side of Chicago and how maybe this mitzvah could help give people in that church a second chance as well. Then it was time to read from the Torah. Before he went up, he said to the Cantor, “I’m so nervous right now”. The Rabbi’s mic was hot and everyone in the temple heard it. I love Aaron’s ability to show vulnerability. Brene Brown would be so proud.

Aaron had three Aliyahs (prayer you say before and after each Torah portion reading). They were done by 1) his Bubbie, Sherry Kaplan and Aunt, Joy Calisoff, 2) his parents Adam and Nikki Calisoff, and 3) Aaron Calisoff.

Sam’s portion was parshat Kedoshim. He chose to focus on the laws requiring people to give to strangers and those in need. He mentioned how at the time these were laws and nowadays charity is a personal choice. Through his mitzvah project he saw people in need on the West side of Chicago, which made him understand that if you can, you should help people in need.

Sam’s Aliyahs were done by 1) Walter and Doris Devensky 2) Jack and Benjamin Calisoff 3) Sam Calisoff.

Afterwards we asked my friend from high school, Jessica Ferrari, to sing Mi Sherbeirach for us. When she got up and sung, I was nearly in tears. I don’t know if it’s because we have been friends for so long, or the fact that she is our life event person (she married us and officiated my mother’s funeral), if it was because her voice is so beautiful it feels godlike, or because not only is she a cantor but also she is a healer and to watch her sing a song about healing was all wrapped up in something much bigger than just the material world in which we live in. My father recorded it and I listened to again and even without sitting in the majesty of the Temple, I was still almost in tears. I added it here below so you can be in tears too.

Afterwards another one of Adam’s cousins, Reed, who came all the way from California for the event, read the Prayer for Peace. He used to present professionally and he really did well.

We rented buses for the kids and out of towners to get from the Temple to the East Bank Club, where the reception was held.

I haven’t received the pictures yet. Only the photo booth photos. You can click on the photo below to see them all.

When I get the pictures back from the photographer I’ll do another blog with pictures at the reception along with a commentary.

The next morning we had brunch at our house.

I want to thank everyone who made this day great! The Rabbis, Cantor and staff at Temple Sholom, Monika and her staff at the East Bank Club, our EMCC Josh and his crew from Energy Productions, the game rental company, Clowning Around & Celebration Authority, the photographer Gina from NorthShore Photography, the Candy company that made the after party take home gifts, Oh Happy Day, our caterers for the Sunday Brunch, Goddess and the Baker, and most importantly the guests who filled the room with love.

Stay tuned for the blog about the B’nai Mitzvah Party! Hopefully coming soon!

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When Adam asked me what I wanted to do for Mother’s Day, I just rolled my eyes at him. I had already looked on the calendar and seen a birthday party invite for Jack from 11-1, a soccer game for Jack and Ben at 3pm, followed by another soccer game for Jack at 4:30, which overlapped the twins soccer game at 4pm.

Still we started the day in the normal way, with cards and presents for me in the morning.

There is a new fancy chocolate place that just opened up down the street from us, Leonidas, and in typical Adam style, he bought me the biggest box they had. Having said that, with the four boys in the house, I’ll be lucky to eat three pieces.

I also asked for a new Weber grill and microwave. Maybe this sounds like a terribly unthoughtful gift but I’m lucky to live with a man who doesn’t curb my spending so whenever I want something I just buy it. It makes it difficult to ask for something that you want when whatever you want you just buy when you felt like it instead of saving it for Mother’s Day. But we really did need a new grill and microwave! Having Adam deal with this was the best gift I could get!

In the afternoon we picked going to the twins game over the older boys. The twins were subbing for the 2011 team and they have many friends on both sides of the field and it was too fun to miss it.

After all the games were over we had just enough time to go home and change for dinner. We headed over to one of our favorite neighborhood spots, Shine. The kids were starving after all the activity and there was complete silence when the appetizers were put down.

It was a fun evening as we spent time catching up on all the kids busy days. It seems we are in bar/bat mitzvah season lately. I attended three ceremonies in the past three weekends. Two of the kids in this picture are wearing Bar/Bat MItzvah sweatshirts! I’m not so patiently waiting for our photos to come back before I write the blog about the twins B’nai Mitzvah so stay tuned, hopefully I’ll be writing about it soon!

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