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B'nai Mitzva of 2007

Anna and Maia Wachter

May 26, 2007

Anna says, "Maia and I were born on June 8th. We both like to swim and bike in our spare time. I take piano, and play the clarinet. I am a vegetarian, and I love animals. I am in the seventh grade at Wiley Middle School, where I run track, and practice for the upcoming play. Our mitzvah project is sending money to Darfur and Sudan to help stop the genocide happening there. I am very excited about becoming a bat mitzvah."

Maia says, "I am in seventh grade at Wiley Middle School. Th is spring, I am on the track team at Wiley. For fun, I like to play tennis, draw comic strips, and take pictures. For our Bat Mitzvah, Anna and I started a temporary fund, where instead of getting a gift, you can send money and help stop the genocide in Darfur. I am very excited about fi nally becoming a bat mitzvah."

Noah Shutkin

June 2, 2007

Noah Shutkin, son of Connie Friedman and David Shutkin, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on June 2nd / the 16th of Sivan. Noah lives in Cleveland Heights with his parents, his brother Tal and their two cats. He is in 7th grade at The Agnon School. Noah enjoys playing his electric guitar, soccer, football, wilderness camping, rock climbing and whitewater rafting. This summer Noah will travel from coast to coast with his family.

Sam Falck

June 16, 2007

Sam Falck will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah on June 16 / 30 Sivan. Sam is the son of Joel and Julie Rabin Falck and the brother of Josh.

Sam's favorite time of year is summer camp. He spends one month a year at Camp Wise and eleven months of the year looking forward to going to camp again. Sam is a sports nut. He plays basketball on the Agnon team and plays tennis a couple of times a week. Unless it's snowing, you can fi nd him shooting baskets in the driveway daily. He can quote the statistics from most professional sports (hockey excluded) as he memorizes the sports pages and never misses Sports Center on ESPN. Sam also plays the trumpet in the school band. Around these many activities, Sam still fi nds time to attend school at Agnon where he is in seventh grade. His favorite subjects are science and Tanach.

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Gabe Schmitt

September 3, 2007

Gabe Schmitt is the Schmitt's third son to be called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah at BETHS. Gabe attends school at Brady Middle School, in Orange. Gabe's Hebrew background comes from pre-school at the JCC and early elementary school at Fuchs Bet Sefer Mizrachi. Gabe recently graduated from Cleveland Hebrew School, and he was part of this year's CHS school trip to Israel.

Gabe has many good friends that are members of Beth El and the Cleveland Hebrew School. Th is has made the Jewish community a very rewarding and fun part of his life. Gabe plays very competitive soccer with the Cleveland Soccer Academy. He is an accomplished flute player, and he studies with a private teacher at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is a member of a local youth band and he plays in a school Jazz band as well.

"Gabe is a great brother, friend, and son. We all enjoy his company at all times. His great sense of humor can make the most dark and gloomy situations happy and fun. He is a team player and would like to thank everyone for coming to watch and celebrate Gabe doing a fantastic job on his Bar-Mitzvah." ­ straight from Gabe himself.

Katie and Ari Palevsky

August 4, 2007

Miriam and Marvin Palevsky and their children have been integral members of the Beth El-Th e Heights Synagogue family since our early days at the JCC.

As a matter of fact, their eldest daughter, Nicole, had the very fi rst Bat Mitzvah in our merged congregation! Hard to believe Nicole is now 20, followed by Marissa, 18, Jessica, 15, Ari and Katie, 13, and Matthew, 10.

Many people do not know that the Palevskys come from a proud tradition of foster-parenting on both sides. Marvin and Miriam fostered for nineteen years and adopted Matthew. Th ey fostered many adoption infants, many pregnant teens, and teens with their babies; it became a way of life for them, and their kids really enjoyed it, also. Th is came to an end a short time ago when Miriam's health began to fail, over a long period of time, and she needed more care herself, and felt it wasn't fair to put all the responsibility on Marvin. Marvin's parents fostered two children, and Miriam's parents still actively serve as foster parents.

We all remember Miriam leading services and look forward to the day that she will be able to do so again! She was a major contributor to the Shabbat and holiday experience at BE-THS.

Marvin has been so important to our community in other ways ­ we all know of his work in the kitchen, as Executive Chef, and as all-around maintenance man! Some of us remember how he came to the fore when we got our building four years ago and there was so much to be done. Your editor recently came across the following anecdote from that period, written by Ditte Wolin: "Everyone has worked very hard at cleaning a lot of garbage out of our new home. But not everything is just garbage. Th e other day, Marv Palevsky found a bit of history ­ an unopened fl oor threshold, wrapped in its original paper ­ from PALEVKSY INDUSTRIES. A tie to his family ­ the company belonged to his grandfather!"

My name is Arielle Adina Palevsky, but my friends call me Ari. I am 13 years old, and I go to Memorial Junior High School. I have four sisters and one brother. My twin, Caitlin Ann Palevsky, and I will be celebrating our B'not Mitzvah on 4 August 2007. I am very athletic. I enjoy wrestling, mathematics, art, and singing.

My friends call me crazy and they also say that I sometimes act younger than I am when I am being crazy and most of the time they say that I am like a parent because of how responsible and caring I can be. I do my own thing. I do not spend a lot of time by myself, but I also do not give in to peer pressure. I am not a straight "A" student, but I am the next best thing, a straight "B" student!

I love taking care of little kids and animals. I have had a lot of experience with both, because my parents have fostered about 20-30 children, most of them before I was born. After I was born most of them were younger than I, including my brother Matthew, who was adopted.

I am not big on complaining, and I work my hardest to fi nish what others tell me that I cannot do. Most of the time I prove them wrong but other times I get so caught up in what I am doing I do not realize what else I need to be doing.

My twin and I are a lot alike in some areas, but in other areas, you would not even be able to tell that we are related. My large family is to blame for my personality, like the way that I treat people and what I like and dislike, such as foods, certain people, and things of that sort.

My name is Caitlin, but I prefer that EVERYBODY call me Katie, except family. I am 13 years old. I have a twin sister named Arielle (Ari) Adina Palevsky. She is bigger than I am in every way, except I have longer hair.

I like dark stuff , like skulls, black, dragons, and magic. I don't mind being called weird because I am used to it and it means I am independent. I never like going with the crowd, I have my own style and nobody can change me. I also like astronomy, Harry Potter, reading, writing, hanging with my friends, and I never listen to the music most kids my age listen to; I like to listen to country music. I also write my own songs; they each have their diff erent styles and tunes. I love to sing, but only in front of certain people; I do not like getting up on a stage or platform to talk in front of large crowds. I hate talking in general.

I like to be active and go swimming or play sports with my friends. I am a big tomboy, and I HATE to wear skirts and dresses. I like to wear boy or baggy clothes, that is why I sometimes I take my friends' clothes. 97% of my friends are guys; I have a lot of brother-sister relationships with most of them. Well this is me, whether you like it or not.

Ashton Elrad

October 20, 2007

My name is Ashton Elrad. I am 13 years old and I am in the eighth grade at Agnon School. I have a younger brother whose name is Nicky but everyone else calls him by his middle name, Logan. He is 15 months younger but we have always been like twins. It's like twin telepathy. He has always been there for me, and I know we will always be there for each other. The thing I love most about my brother is that we can talk about anything. The nicest part about being close is the laughter in our lives.

My hobbies include playing my guitar, playing basketball for Agnon, hanging out with my friends, camping and shopping. I also like to cook for my family; my specialty is Indian. I have many friends, but I have always had a special relationship with the boys. I love sports and athletics; maybe that's why I feel women can be just as competitive or possibly even more competitive in sports or anything else they want to do. I feel that's what gives me my edge! A special part of my summer is going to the JCC overnight camp, Camp Wise, second session. I love going to Camp Wise because I can spend time away from my normal life and enjoy my camp friends and Jewish culture.

I am proud of my accomplishments and hope one day to become a dermatologist or an attorney at law

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