מי שברך לחנוכת בר מצווה | Mi SheBerakh for Ḥanukat Bar Mitsvah (70th Anniversary of the Bar Mitzvah Portion), by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

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10 September 2025 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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Bnei (Bar/Bat) Mitsvah & Other Birthday Prayers, During the Aliyot

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A Mi SheBerakh for the 70th anniversary of the bar mitzvah ceremony, referred to by some as a “Ḥanukat Bar Mitzvah” or “second bar mitsvah.” Written for the ḥanukat bar mitzvah of the author’s grandfather, 30 August 2015.

Note: “The Place” is a direct translation of the divine referent, ha-Maqom. All divine referents (pronouns, epithets, names) are rendered in unicase.

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
מִי שֶׁבֵּרָךְ אֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחַק וְיַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן דָוִד וּשְׁלֹמֹה וְאִמּוֹתֵֽינוּ שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה מִרְיָם רוּת וַאֲבִיגַֽיִל הוּא יְבָרֵךְ וְיִשְׁמוֹר וְיִנְצוֹר אֶת־הָאִישׁ פב״פ שֶׁעָלָה לַתּוֹרָה לִכְבוֹד הַתּוֹרָה וְלִכְבוֹד הַשַּׁבָּת וְלִכְבוֹד חֲנֻכַּת קִבּוּל הַמִּצְוֺת שֶׁלּוֹ בְּעֶֽצֶם יוֹם פָּרָשַׁת בַּגְרוּתוֹ׃	May the One who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, and our foremothers Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, Miriam, Ruth, and Abigail, bless and protect and guard the man ___ son of ___ who has come up to the Torah to honor the Torah and to honor the Shabbat and to honor the rededication of his acceptance of the commandments on the very day of the portion of his maturity.
הַמָּקוֹם שֶׁנַתָּן לוֹ חַיִּים אֲרֻכִּים עַד־יְמֵי שְׁנוֹתֵֽינוּ וְעוֹד הוּא יִתֵּן לוֹ בִּגְבוּרוֹת שָׁנִים נוֹסָפוֹת עַד־מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה בִּבְרִיאוּת הַגּוּף וּבְשִׂמְחַת הַנֶּֽפֶשׁ בְּאַהֲבַת חֶֽסֶד וּבְיִרְאַת שָׁמַֽיִם׃ כְּדִכְתִיב ע֭וֹד יְנוּב֣וּן בְּשֵׂיבָ֑ה דְּשֵׁנִ֖ים וְרַֽעֲנַנִּ֑ים יִֽהְיֽוּ׃ וְכֵן יְהִי רָצוֹן וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן׃	May the Place who gave him a long life, to the “days of our years”^[1] Find Psalm 90:10 and more, grant him in strength additional years, until a hundred and twenty years,^[2] The traditional maximum capacity of human life. Find Genesis 6:3 in health of body and in joy of spirit, in love of mercy and in awe of heaven. As it is written, They^[3] They = the Righteous. still produce in old age, fresh and verdant they will be (Psalms 92:15). And thus may it be willed, and we say amen.
	Since b’not mitsvah as a celebration are a relatively recent concept, few people as of right now will be in need of a feminine form. But that will change in our lifetimes, so, for a ḥanukat bat mitsvah the following version may be used:
מִי שֶׁבֵּרָךְ אִמּוֹתֵֽינוּ שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה מִרְיָם רוּת וַאֲבִיגַֽיִל וַאֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחַק וְיַעֲקֹב מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן דָוִד וּשְׁלֹמֹה הוּא יְבָרֵךְ וְיִשְׁמוֹר וְיִנְצוֹר אֶת־הָאִשָּׁה פב״פ שֶׁעָלְתָּה לַתּוֹרָה לִכְבוֹד הַתּוֹרָה וְלִכְבוֹד הַשַּׁבָּת וְלִכְבוֹד חֲנֻכַּת קִבּוּל הַמִּצְוֺת שֶׁלָּהּ בְּעֶֽצֶם יוֹם פָּרָשַׁת בַּגְרוּתָהּ׃	May the One who blessed our foremothers Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, Miriam, Ruth, and Abigail, and our forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, bless and protect and guard the woman ___ daughter of ___ who has come up to the Torah to honor the Torah and to honor the Shabbat and to honor the rededication of her acceptance of the commandments on the very day of the portion of her maturity.
הַמָּקוֹם שֶׁנַתָּן לָהּ חַיִּים אֲרֻכִּים עַד־יְמֵי שְׁנוֹתֵֽינוּ וְעוֹד הוּא יִתֵּן לָהּ בִּגְבוּרוֹת שָׁנִים נוֹסָפוֹת עַד־מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה בִּבְרִיאוּת הַגּוּף וּבְשִׂמְחַת הַנֶּֽפֶשׁ בְּאַהֲבַת חֶֽסֶד וּבְיִרְאַת שָׁמַֽיִם׃ כְּדִכְתִיב ע֭וֹד יְנוּב֣וּן בְּשֵׂיבָ֑ה דְּשֵׁנִ֖ים וְרַֽעֲנַנִּ֑ים יִֽהְיֽוּ׃ וְכֵן יְהִי רָצוֹן וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן׃	May the Place who gave her a long life, to the “days of our years” and more, grant her in strength additional years, until a hundred and twenty years, in health of body and in joy of spirit, in love of mercy and in awe of heaven. As it is written, They still produce in old age, fresh and verdant they will be. And thus may it be willed, and we say amen.

Notes

Notes
1	Find Psalm 90:10
2	The traditional maximum capacity of human life. Find Genesis 6:3
3	They = the Righteous.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic texts, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=63200

Associated Image:

Lew Gantwerk, age 13, at his bar mitzvah party with his maternal grandparents Hyman and Anna Ratner (20 August 1955) — from the collection of the Gantwerk family

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)