It was a great thing of joy for the family of Mr and Mrs E C Anyim (Eliezar Ben David), the father of Efraim Ben Eliezar who performed his Bar Mitzvah at Gihon Hebrew Synagogue Abuja, Nigeria. Bar Mitzvah, a Jewish ceremony to celebrate a boy reaching the age of 13, which is the age he is given religious responsibility and duties of an adult man.

As Jewish tradition entails, Efraim needs to go through the ritual of Bar Mitzvah having clocked the age of 13 in other to be elevated to the status of a man. During the Torah service, the young lad lifted the sefar Torah for the first time in his life as a Jew—this was after he led the procession carrying the sefar Torah. Also, he performed his first Aliyah during the service as it was tradition within Judaism.
Speaking after the ceremony, Eliezar Ben David, the father of Efraim expressed his joy and fulfillment saying; “Efraim is my son, so I am very happy today that he has finally become a man. He was born on 25th day of Chesvan 5771. Today he has become a man as a Jew. I can remember vividly when his brit milah was performed in this very synagogue 13 years ago, but as you can see he has performed his Bar Mitzvar today. All I wish him is to grow in wisdom of Hashem in fulfilling his obligation as a Jew and also in achieving success in his secular education. His Moreh, David Ben Yakov has witnessed that he is doing well in his learning of Torah and Hebrew language, so I am confident that Efraim will represent the Emunah well.”

Also speaking after the ceremony, his mother, Ruth bat David said; “I, his father and the whole family are proud of Efraim, he has been making us proud both on the matters of Jewish faith and academics. He is very serious in learning Torah and Hebrew language. He is always serious about what he is doing despite the fact that he is quiet and shy as a person. When we reminded him to study the Torah and prepare for the devar Torah, he obeyed, that’s why he did wonderfully well during Devar Torah presentation.”

Shlomo Ben Yakov who doubles as the Chief Chazan of Gihon Hebrew Synagogue and Efraim’s Moreh speaking during the ceremony said; “Efraim is my student, and I can tell you that he is a very serious person on the issue of Torah and Judaism. He is calm, intelligent and sometimes very shy.” Speaking further, he admonished the lad to ensure that he model his life according to the dictates of Torah and emulate the patriarchs. He also reminded him that we all are judged base on good things or evil things we did on earth after we conclude our work here on earth—reminding him that his book has been opened to record his actions. Stressing further, he reminded him that he must make Torah his standard if he is going to have a good life and a good record at the end of his journey on earth.

On the part of Efraim, when asked about how he fell, he stated that he is very happy and fulfilled having successfully performed his Bar Mitzbah. When asked about the path he intends to follow as a Jew, Efraim revealed that he want to either become a Cantor or a Children’s teacher.

By Yisrael Ben Avraham