Jerusalem – Rahm Emanuel’s Son Celebrates Bar Mitzva

Jerusalem – A bar mitzva ceremony for White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel’s son Zach and his nephew Noah took place Sunday at the southern wall excavations area near the Western Wall.

Although Western Wall Bar Mitzvah ceremonies are traditionally held on Monday, Thursday or the Sabbath, the days when the Torah is read,  Bar Mitzvah celebration parties can be held at any time.
Both Emanuel’s son and nephew read from the Torah portion of the week and gave D’var Torah.

Well dressed friends and relatives attended the ceremony, including Catholic relatives of Emanuel’s wife Amy and former Ambassador to the US Itamar Rabinovich.

His family members began arriving at the center’s archaeological park in the early morning, under cover of secrecy. The ceremony, some of it conducted in English, took place before just 50 people.

On the scene were numerous security guards, some of whom are accompanying Rahm Emanuel on his visit to Israel. They prevented the press from entering the premises.

The Davidson Center said the hour-long ceremony went off without a hitch, despite earlier fears that extreme rightists would attempt to cause disruptions.

The Emanuel family held the ceremony on Robinson’s Arch, through which it was possible to ascend to Temple Mount during the time of the second temple. It is located southwest of the holy site, not far from the Western Wall.

Foreign and local media have not noted that the Davidson Center where Zach Emanuel’s Bar Mitzvah is being held is in an area that the United States does not recognize as being under Israeli sovereignty.

The senior Emanuel is considered the man behind U.S. President Barack Obama’s “hard love” policy that has included labeling Jewish neighborhoods near the Western Wall as ”settlements.”

Family members visited the wall last week, angering rightists. A number of them yelled “anti-Semite” at Emanuel, and extreme right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir tried to legally prevent the bar-mitzvah from being carried out.

However his appeal was rejected by the Jerusalem Municipality, which said the bar-mitzvah was a routine occurrence and posed no legal violations..

The ceremony took place after police obtained a restraining order against right-wing activists who intended to heckle Emanuel.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Baruch Marzel and Noam Federman were forbidden to come within 1000 meters of Emanuel, who they consider a traitor against Israel.

In response to a petition by Ben-Gvir on Thursday in which he asked the Jerusalem District Court to prevent the bar mitzva from taking place at Davidson Center near the Wall because the center lacked a license, the Jerusalem municipality said no license was needed because only prayers would take place.

Ben-Gvir said he was overjoyed by the municipality’s response, because he interpreted it to mean that no catering or music would be allowed at the bar mitzva.

The Emanuel family spent Shabbat in Jerusalem, where they prayed on Friday night at the Orthodox egalitarian minyan, Shira Hadasha, in the German Colony neighborhood.