Read Mazel Tov: Celebrities' Bar and Bat Mitzvah Memories for Free Online Page A

mitzvah was a pretty important day in my childhood. I know I felt proud of what I was doing. I remember the day. I remember the sanctuary. I remember reading from the Torah and that my section was really long because I had been preparing for a long time by going to Hebrew school, and I also had a Hebrew tutor. They kept increasing the amount that I was going to do, but I liked doing the work. I was bar mitzvahed by the senior rabbi at the synagogue, Joseph Narot, who was very well-known. I remember that I was good at the Hebrew. And I can still read Hebrew, even though that was the end of my Hebrew education. I was happy about that. I was glad I did it, but I was happy it was over.
    IT’S INTERESTING BECAUSE BACK THEN BAR MITZVAHS SEEMED MORE SUBDUED, OR SHOULD I SAY, LESS COMPETITIVE, THAN THEY ARE TODAY.
    It wasn’t a competition then. I think it’s much more of a competition now. I don’t think back then we all looked on it as competition. I mean, the bar mitzvahs of today are out of control and crazy. They’re bigger than weddings. And back then, it was a really nice party with a band and dancing. And it wasn’t over the top and it wasn’t crazy and it wasn’t out of control.
    AND ANOTHER TALENT SOME MIGHT NOT KNOW YOU POSSESS IS THAT YOU ARE QUITE THE “FANCY DANCER,” “THE KING OF THE WHITE MAN’S OVERBITE.” WERE YOU BACK THEN? DID YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE MOVES?
    Well, clearly. Definitely. For me, it was on display at an early age.
    MODEST AS ALWAYS. WHAT WERE YOU LIKE GROWING UP? WHAT TYPE OF KID WERE YOU? A BRAINIAC, I SUSPECT.
    I was a good kid who didn’t give my parents trouble, who got straight A’s in school. I was self-motivated and very competitive. I played tennis my whole life, since I was six years old. I ended up pretty much playing every day of my life. I was a pretty good tennis player. That was my life, school and tennis. Eventually, I went to Harvard, where I still played tennis but only in my freshman year. I stopped after that. And I became the head of the college newspaper. That’s why I stopped playing tennis, because I couldn’t do both. And I was burnt out on tennis by then. But, you know, my son Andrew is starting to play tennis now, so that’s kind of cool.
    AND SPEAKING OF YOUR CHILDREN, WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR YOUR DAUGHTER, ELIZABETH, AND THREE SONS, ANDREW, PETER AND WILLIAM WHEN THEY TURN THIRTEEN?
    I would like to see all four of my children bar or bat mitzvahed. I would hope to keep the celebrations in perspective. Frankly, I think it’s more about the values and the traditions than it is about the religion, not to diminish the religious part of it. But the values and traditions that it instills in a family are really important. It gives you a sense of community and a sense of belonging to a small group and a bigger group. It’s a way to bring family together and to bind families, generation to generation. It’s a good reminder of where you came from. To me, those are good values.
    ARE YOU A RELIGIOUS PERSON, AND, IF SO, HAVE YOU BECOME MORE RELIGIOUS AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, MORE SPIRITUAL I SHOULD SAY?
    Yes, because I was sick twice and confronted the possibility of dying. I don’t know that it made me more religious, but it made me reconnect with the idea of religion and the traditions and values that I think it brings along.
    But I also think having kids puts things in perspective and makes you realize what’s important. I don’t think you ever lose that competitive spirit, but you figure out how to reprioritize aspects of your life.

Noah Wyle
    He’s not a doctor, but his bedside manner for ten years on ER as Dr. John Carter makes him the numero uno doc in our book. Noah Strausser Speer Wyle was born on June 4, 1971, and raised in Hollywood, California, one of six children born to a Jewish entrepreneur and an Episcopalian orthopedic head nurse who were not avidly religious. The school he attended at the age of thirteen was