Jeremy Piven remembers his low-key celebration, plus 10 surprising facts about the tween ritual.
By Michael Kaminer
For his son Benjamin’s passage into manhood, high-powered Hollywood agent Adam Fiedler wants to throw a party so spectacular it’ll blow a rival agent’s Titanic-themed bar mitzvah out of the water. If you’ve seen the hilarious 2006 comedy Keeping Up With the Steins, you know nothing ends up as planned for Adam, played by Jewish superstar Jeremy Piven.
What is it with Piven and agents? His breakout role has been as Ari Gold, the Hollywood agent on the hit HBO series Entourage. And what is it with bar mitzvahs? As you’ll read in the following excerpt from Jill Rappaport’s new book, Mazel Tov: Celebrities’ Bar and Bat Mitzvah Memories, Piven’s own experience upon turning 13 couldn’t be further from the “Steins” kind of excess.
The contrast reflects the schism facing American Jews in the throes of planning bar mitzvah ceremonies. On one end of the sociological spectrum is the growing tendency toward over-the-top celebrations costing six figures or more. (At the beginning of Steins, Adam considers renting Dodger Stadium—and many of the Dodgers—for the party.) On the other are simple ceremonies focused on Jewish themes, with more attention paid to the Torah than the tempura. And caught in the middle is anyone with a preteen son or daughter of her own, who has to decide what degree of observance—or ostentation—is right for her family.
With this excerpt, and a collection of surprising facts about this popular rite of passage, we hope to ignite some discussion about the meaning of bar and bat mitzvah. E-mail your thoughts to us at editor@jewishlivingmag.com, and we’ll feature responses in an upcoming issue.
Jewish Living Contributing Editor Michael Kaminer lives in Manhattan with his dog Chico. He wrote "Hip Hebraic Homepages" for the January/February issue.
