The Bar Mitzvah ceremonys stand is located immediately after the security check gate adjacent to Dung Gate. Two National Service volunteers are there whose job it is to introduce your group to the guide who will accompany you throughout the ceremony.
Yes, videos and photographs can be taken at the Western Wall. There is also the option for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation to photograph the Bar Mitzvah boy and to upload his picture onto our website, with the familyױs approval, of course.
The guides of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation speak various languages, including English, Arabic, French and Spanish. If you would like the ceremony run in a language other than Hebrew, you must indicate your language of choice when you register for the ceremony. We will try, but cannot guarantee, to find you a guide in your requested language.
Our guides have all undergone careful selection, specialized training and qualification by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. All our guides are trained in leading prayers and in helping create a festive and joyful atmosphere. Our guides are familiar with the proper Torah reading trop (notes) and can assist in the Torah reading as needed. In addition to helping run the ceremony, the guide will also assist you in all logistics such as finding a table in the Kotel area, bringing a Torah scroll and prayer books, and the like.
Absolutely!! Personal greetings and blessings can be included in the ceremony with the help of your guide who will indicate to you the proper time and place for such by maintaining appropriate limitations of modesty as is warranted at this holy site.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation has a wide variety of activities (for a fee) that can be incorporated either before or after the ceremony at the Kotel. Among these activities are:
The Foundationױs Bar Mitzvah family package coordinator would be happy to assist you in any ancillary services to your event, from beginning to end, including organizing transportation, the familyױs procession to the Kotel, restaurants, halls, etc. For details call *5958.
Every Bar Mitzvah boy receives a decorative certificate with his name and the date of his Bar Mitzvah. The certificate is signed by the Rabbi of the Kotel and can be framed for a memento that will last forever.
It is forbidden to bring a personal Torah scroll to the Kotel
Definitely. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation has a special program only in Israel that prepares young boys for their Bar Mitzvah. Lessons take place in the city where the boy lives and are given by teachers who are especially trained for this. The program is subsidized and requires advanced registration. For further details and registration, see click here.
The Foundationױs guides work on salary and they are forbidden to accept tips. Any family interested in making a donation to the Western Wall Heritage Foundation is welcome to leave their donation at the Bar Mitzvah stand located at the entrance to the menױs prayer section.
There is no limit to the number of people who can attend the ceremony at the Kotel. However, some of the tours and activities we offer are limited to a group of 35 people. If there are more people in the group, they can be divided into several groups.
The ceremony itself lasts approximately 40 minutes, but additional time should be allotted for setting up the ceremony and the arrival of all the guests, using the restrooms, etc. It is advised to arrive at least 15 minutes before the arranged time and to also take into account possible traffic delays getting to Jerusalem and inside the Old City, finding parking, and walking to the Western Wall Plaza.
Aside from rare occurrences, we stand closely to the time-frame set for the ceremony, so that once you arrive at the Kotel there should not be too much of a wait.
The Bar Mitzvah is the Hebrew date of the boyױs 13th birthday. The ceremony, including his being called up to the Torah can take place on Monday or Thursday or on Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the Hebrew month), days when the Torah is read during morning services. The ceremony should be held as close to the birthday as possible. It can be observed on or after the Hebrew birthday, and only in specific and rare occasions up to a month before.
Holding a Bar Mitzvah ceremony at the Kotel requires advance reservation with the Western Wall Heritage Foundation in order to reserve a guide who will accompany you throughout the ceremony and assist in running it. One can reserve the date from 6 months in advance to as late as one week before the event. The reservation can be made in one of two ways: (1) via the Foundation’s website(link), or (2) by telephone, *5958. In exceptional circumstances, reservations can be made at shorter notice, by telephone only.
Bar Mitzvahs are held on days when the Torah is read, i.e., Mondays and Thursdays or on Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the Hebrew month). On these days ceremonies are held between 8:00 AM and 3:00 PM.
On rainy days, the ceremony is held inside the area called Wilsonױs Arch, to the left of the menױs prayer area. This is an inside area that includes a raised womenױs section, separated by glass. The women can hear the prayers by using earphones loaned to them by the hostess stationed in the womenױs section.
Refreshments are obviously an inseparable part of the celebration at the Kotel. To the north of the Western Wall Plaza (to the left of the prayer plaza) there are two covered areas with tables for the use of bar mitzvah families who wish to bring refreshments.
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