1. Of these nine photos found on the Internet, from the same photographer, purportedly of bat mitzvahs, numbers three and seven seem traditional to me: one is a young woman at the Torah; the other is a woman being carried in a chair which used to be just for weddings or in the movies.  I think it would be interesting to hear the guy say “now put down the torah and at the count of three jump and kick your legs in the air like you’re someday going to be a gymnast at Stanford.”

2.

If Kaylee ever gets a bat mitzvah she could forgo the silver yad And use her big toe

Kaylee Cole, jr, Flower Mound, Texas, majoring in Science and Technology

I guess it makes some sense for Stanford with its multi -million-dollar semi-pro athletic department to hire a glamour photographer to over-dramatize the excitement of women’s gymnastics. But to me it’s amusing how that forte apparently creeps into the same photographer’s work documenting the life events of the youth of our community, especially the fairer sex ( more vulnerable?).

3. And maybe what’s triggering this, beyond the chance meeting with Stanford’s version of a spider -Gwen —I’m saying the athlete I met could end up doing special operations for the CIA then running for president —is that I did attend a wonderful bar mitzvah recently of Ari and was struck by how hip and fun the events were;  I’m hoping it’s not the same photographer — and speaking of action, Ari is a champion snowboarder. I thought the graffiti baseball caps were a nice touch; Terry left early but I got her one that made a pun on the words “heart”and “art” — she being both a master print maker and an interventional cardiologist. Terry thought the girls were sensible to be wearing Nike and Adidas  with their skirts.

Or, four, arbah, maybe this has something to do with the fact that an Israeli beauty queen was cast as Wonder Woman.