For some people, community and holiness are more easily found in family and friends rather than in a building.

Any life cycle event is personal. Whether it is two people who vow to spend their lives together, the death of a beloved family member, the birth of a baby, or a child’s preparation to become Bar/Bat Mitzvah, it ought to be yours. To sanctify that life cycle event, it should happen in a place that is special for you. That might be in your home or in a beautiful restaurant, at the awesome ocean, on a magnificent mountaintop, in the land of Israel or at the Coliseum in Rome,

For some people, community is more easily found among family and friends than in a building. Wherever a few or a group of people gather, they can be transformed into a kehillah k’doshah (a sacred community). You can discover your personal spirituality anywhere; there are doors to spirituality everywhere… but one has to open them and take a step inside. It is for these reasons that I offer private ceremonies. Some people are simply more comfortable “outside the box”. Some children prepare for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah passage more effectively when in a solo situation tailored precisely to their particular strengths and weaknesses.