A Parent Bar Mitzvah Speech Sample

After much anticipation, most of it wonderfully sweet, the big day is finally here: The bar mitzvah of our son, Randy Aaron Rubinstein.

Both Bill and I are thrilled for Randy. He's truly a most special young man. That sounded funny to me…to call my son a young man. I guess because today it's for REAL-- he really IS a man.

Of course there are all kinds of standards of behavior, ethics and responsibility that truly, completely define just what DOES make a man. And many of those standards are measured throughout an entire lifetime -- they don't just come, automatically, on any given day. But THIS day is different. And in this very focused context, and under the brilliant spotlight of Jewish law and custom, a bar mitzvah, among other things, celebrates the transition from boyhood to manhood. So yes, today our son Randy is a man. And for his family it's wonderful and emotional.

Besides, if his childhood is any indication, Randy will be in for a pretty exciting, unusual and fun life as an adult.

Randy was always a stubborn sort. I think he got it from his grandma Esther- a woman who didn't like the name we gave her grandson and she said "That's ok, I'll never use it anyway." I don't know if she meant "Randy" or his middle name, "Aaron," which comes from his big sister Abigail -- and from the Hebrew term for "Sphere." Anyway, about Randy and his stubborn streak which he may -- or may not -- have inherited from grandma, consider this true-to-life tale.

One beautiful August afternoon, when we had just moved to Clifton and Randy was an active little 3 1/2 year old, he asked the baby sitter to take him to the park. She calmly said she would -- as soon as she put away the clothes she was folding. Well, that answer wasn't good enough for Randy. So he simply took the dog, opened the door and set out on his own way without her. Oh, one more thing: He had his underwear on. JUST his underwear.

Now try and picture this: It's at least a half a mile from our house to the park, and a good part of that lengthy journey is right along the side of a major road with a lot of traffic. Woodchester Drive for those of you who know the neighborhood. So they're walking along, Randy and the dog, and thank goodness, a little sense is finally shown -- by the dog which, at a certain point, refused to walk along that dangerous roadway.

A grandmother, not Randy's grandma but another one -- sees this little boy, in his underwear, walking his dog on busy streets, and she stops and tries to help. She drives Randy and the dog all around the area, hoping that the little boy would be able to identify his house -- which he couldn't. At that point, the kindly grandmother calls the police.

Meanwhile, the baby sitter, who has finished folding the clothes, thank goodness, looks all around the house and realizes that the little boy -- and his dog -- are gone. Handling everything with responsibility and aplomb…she flips out and raises a ruckus of panic on the front lawn. The neighbors, bless them, see the commotion and try to help. In fact, they organize search parties that start coming the entire neighborhood, including the river we lived on. Then the sitter decides to take to her own car to search for Randy. As she's getting into the vehicle, she spots another commotion, with a police car in the middle of it all, down the street. She runs right over and sees the cops trying to soothe and placate a little boy, in his underwear, who isn't frightened. He's just upset…because he STILL isn't playing in the park. We thank God that that adventure had a happy ending, and you know what? In a nutshell, that story is vintage Randy, right down to the underwear. And that was the first time Bill and I realized what we were in for later on.

When he's not running away to parks unknown, Randy is warm and funny and utterly comfortable around everybody -- especially senior citizens, I'm happy to add.

He's a young man of many talents, from dancing hip hop to playing big roles in Camelot, The King and I, Babes in Arms and more in various theater camp productions. He loves being on the stage and he'll entertain for a major audience at the drop of a hat.

Our son is as charismatic as they come. Sensitive and compassionate with people and animals alike. He's gregarious, too. I tell you, if lunch period were graded, he'd be an honor student. Or a talk show host. As it is, we're enormously proud of the fact that Randy, our nonconformist son, is so very comfortable in his own skin. You want outside the box? You want Randy's point of view, for sure.

Our son looms large in stature. And I'm not just talking about the fact that he's already, at thirteen, a rather sizeable 5'10." I guess in all kinds of ways, he makes an impression…and his father and I think that somewhere, somehow, it's going to be an enduring one.

Randy has an amazing faculty about him -- working very hard and accomplishing quite a bit -- when he wants to. For instance, while working on a play that he'll be in, he can memorize over a hundred pages of script in 3 weeks. On the other hand, Hebrew school? Well…to be diplomatic…sometimes there's something less than full consistency in his behavior.

But who's counting? The fact is, speaking for Bill and myself, Randy keeps us young and he makes us proud for all kinds of wonderful reasons. We love him very much, and we're thrilled, absolutely thrilled, to celebrate his bar mitzvah…and to celebrate it with all of you.

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