B’nei Mitzvah At Hebrew Tabernacle

Lila Moschitto September 6, 2025

Lila Moschitto is 13 years old and is SO EXCITED to be celebrating this momentous occasion. Born and raised in Washington Heights, Lila goes to school at The MottHall School and is hoping to have her best school year yet. Lila LOVES acting and performs with the local organization Pied Piper. She has many hobbies including biking, swimming, reading, writing books and songs, composing songs, crafts, baking, and much more. She spent 7 months studying with her incredible tutor, Eve, to prepare for this occasion. For her Bat mitzvah project she and her friends started the “August Challenge” as part of her volunteer work with the global non-profit Earth Guardians. Each morning she will do a small beach clean up in the Rockaways in Queens. She did this so as to help take care of the Earth and make sure that she gives back to it after all the harm being done to it. The Moschitto Family is grateful to Rabbi Paula and Shelly Koy for their support and guidance and to the entire Hebrew Tabernacle congregation for being a wonderful, inclusive and caring community.

Mikayla Schneider June 21, 2025

Mikayla has lived in Washington Heights since she was four months old, and just finished 7th grade at Columbia Secondary School. She and her friends like playing volleyball and going to Starbucks after school. She also likes jazz dance, tumbling, crocheting, and baking. This summer she’ll be attending sleepaway camp at Cedar Lake, the Jewish Y camp where her grandparents first met over 50 years ago.

Mikayla started attending Tot Shabbat at Hebrew Tabernacle when she was two years old, and has been a member of the synagogue ever since. She is grateful to Eve Millstein and Rabbi Paula for their help in preparing her for her Bat Mitzvah.

Mikayla loves the ocean. For her mitzvah project, she created and sold crochet stuffed animals and flowers, donating the proceeds to Clean Ocean Action.

Lior Garelik June 7, 2025

Lior is in 7th grade at TAG Young Scholars, where he makes his friends laugh, plays basketball every moment he can, and excels in math. Lior spent the first eight years of his life in Washington Heights where he learned to love playing outside, eating snacks from the deli and sledding in Fort Tryon Park. Lior moved to Riverdale in 4th grade, and has discovered the joy of playing basketball in Ewen and Seton Parks, getting Fro Yo at Menchies and riding the BX7 bus. Lior loves cooking, baking, basketball and his cats George and Nutter. For his mitzvah project, Lior put his chef skills to work and made ten chicken, rice, pico de gallo and avocado bowls for the Riverdale Friendly Fridge. Lior has an amazing heart and is a joy to be around. We are so proud to watch him become a Bar Mitzvah and to be a part of the wonderful Hebrew Tabernacle community.

Jonah Blane Sesquin May 17, 2025

Born in NYC, Jonah Blane Sesquin is named after his maternal grandfather, William MacBlane. Jonah is a huge fan of New York’s sports teams, including the Knicks, Yankees and the Buffalo Bills (only NFL team in NY state!). He also enjoys spending time with his two cats, playing Pokémon Go all over the city and the world, exploring different neighborhoods of NYC via subway, and playing all kinds of video games.

Jonah joined the Hebrew Tabernacle Hebrew School during fourth grade. He is grateful to his tutor, Susan Edelstein, who guided him patiently through his Bar Mitzvah preparation. For his mitzvah project, he saved a part of his allowance each week throughout the year and had the family save their change, using the savings to purchase food for weekly donations to the community pantry.

He is looking forward to sharing this important milestone with the HT community, friends and family from all over the world.

Madeline Ilona Christian May 10th, 2025

Madeline, affectionately known as “Maddy,” began her adventures at Hebrew Tabernacle in 2016 in the Aleph class. Nine years later, we are so very proud of the young lady who will now stand on the Bima this Saturday for her Bat Mitzvah. From her early memories of shaking the Lulav with Principal Shelly, Maddy cherishes the many special experiences she has had at HT.

Currently an 8th grader at The Professional Performing Arts School, Maddy will be entering PPAS High School’s Musical Theater Program next year. Her passion for singing, music, and performing has always been a central part of her life.

One of Maddy’s most beautiful qualities is the support she gives to her family and friends. She has a remarkable capacity for compassion and an innate ability to empathize with those around her.

At home Maddy can be found playing guitar in her room, baking a random cake, watching anything Marvel with her dad or playing video games with her older brother Xander.

Our sincere gratitude to Principal Shelly, Rabbi Paula, and Maddy’s wonderful tutor, Eve Millstein.

Rhett Bernstein March 8th, 2025

Rhett Simon Bernstein is a seventh grader at The Mott Hall School and an avid hockey player for the Riverbank Lightning. A devoted New York Rangers fan, Rhett spends much of his free time on the ice, but when he’s not playing hockey, you can find him gaming, cooking, hanging out with friends, or getting lost in a good book. He loves living in Washington Heights and exploring the city—especially in search of the perfect ice cream shop. He’s a great brother to Aaron – always trying to include him in his interests and hanging out in the neighborhood.

For his Mitzvah project, Rhett returned to his elementary school, Dos Puentes, to support kindergarten through third graders with their schoolwork, focusing on English language learners. He found joy in mentoring younger students and inspiring them to develop a love for reading, knowing firsthand how rewarding it can be. We know his love of learning and perseverance in hockey will help him to achieve any goal he sets his mind to.

Micah Darwin-Zimmer February 8th, 2025

Micah Darwin-Zimmer is a gentle soul with endless depths to his intellect and imagination. At the top of his seventh-grade class at IS 187, Micah is already an accomplished multi-talented individual. Last spring, Micah earned the highest Cub Scouts honor, the Arrow of Light, from Troop 729. At Master Kwon’s taekwondo dojang he has diligently worked up to the Bodum belt- the last step before black belt. He has obtained proficiency in several coding languages through a weekly online coding course called Code Wizards HQ, including Python, Html, CSS, and Java Script. In addition, Micah is steadfast in his growth as a pianist, performing increasingly complex compositions at biannual recitals with local piano instructor Candace Chen. Beyond these impressive accomplishments, Micah loves to travel, try new foods and drinks, read, collect dragons, and play the video games Minecraft and Sky. He is a loving older sibling, and the manifestation of his parents’ wildest dreams. He aspires to work in a STEM occupation related to colonizing outer space, and if this remains his goal, he will achieve it.

Arlo Rubin December 14th, 2024

We are excited to announce and celebrate our son, Arlo Benjamin, as he is called to the torah as a Bar Mitzvah this Saturday, December 14, 2024. Arlo was born in NYC and has grown up in Washington Heights, blocks from Hebrew Tabernacle. Arlo’s first word was not mama or dada, but “ba” (ball). His love for sports has been consistent and continues to grow, specifically with soccer/football. Every day, Arlo either plays, practices, reads, analyzes, watches, and/or writes about soccer. Arlo is in eighth grade at Success Academy Harlem North Central (and recently endured the NYC DOE high school process). He excels academically, participates in the chess club, and has been on the Success Academy Travel Team for the past 6 years.

For his mitzvah project, Arlo volunteered as a coach in training (CIT) for the Washington Heights YM/WHA Hudson Cliffs Baseball League (HCBL). Throughout the HCBL 2024 season, Arlo assisted the HCBL coaches to develop kids of varying ages and abilities, individually and as teams, develop skills, gain knowledge, and play baseball. Throughout this mitzvah project experience, Arlo developed patience, a greater appreciation for his own teachers and coaches, and continued desire to support athletes in the future.

The Rubin Family would like to thank Rabbi Paula, Shelly Koy, and Susan Edelstein (Bar Mitzvah tutor) for their encouragement, knowledge, and experience educating and preparing Arlo for his Bar Mitzvah.

Jordan Snyder November 23rd, 2024

Jordan Snyder is an 8th grader at The Community School in Teaneck, NJ. He is a lifelong resident of Washington Heights and loves living in New York City, especially walking around Fort Tryon Park. Jordan enjoys cooking, fencing, and hanging out with his friends and his older brother, Elijah. Jordan’s favorite subjects at school are science and technology. Jordan has attended Hebrew Tabernacle Hebrew school since Kindergarten, and we are thankful to Shelly, Rabbi Paula and his tutor Eve Millstein for their support in preparing Jordan for his Bar Mitzvah. For Jordan’s mitzvah project, he baked and delivered 100 muffins to the Fort Fridge, a local pantry & fridge.

Gavin Shames November 8th, 2024

Gavin is an eighth grader at P.S./M.S. 278 The Paula Hedbavny School, where his favorite subjects are science and math. Gavin’s hobbies include video games and working on upgrading his computer. Gavin loves to play soccer and has been playing for about as long as he could walk. He’s played in leagues in Riverdale and at Asphalt Green on the Upper East Side.

He enjoys traveling with his family. He’s been to 13 states and 3 national parks. He inherited a sense of adventure from his late grandfather, Jerrold Shames. Gavin has tried his hand at everything from trapeze, skiing, simulated skydiving and surfing.

Gavin and his family would like to thank Rabbi Paula, Shelly Koy, and his Hebrew tutor, Eve Millstein, for their support, encouragement, and patience in preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. They would also like to thank all the family, friends, and Hebrew Tabernacle community for being part of his big day.

Aaron Dornfeld October 26th, 2024

Aaron is an eighth grader at Mott Hall Middle School, where he loves math and science. His hobbies include playing video games and disc golf (though not at the same time!). Aaron also enjoys playing sports with his friends in Bennett Park and spending time with his dog, Koda.

For his mitzvah project Aaron volunteered with two non-profit organizations that focus on protecting and restoring the Hudson River: Clearwater and Riverkeeper. Aaron spent time helping at a Clearwater educational event that raised money for the organization and awareness about its mission. For Riverkeeper, he participated in neighborhood and river clean ups, picking up trash in order to make sure it didn’t wind up in the rivers and the ecosystem.

Aaron and his family would like to thank Rabbi Paula, Shelly Koy and his Hebrew tutor, Susan Edelstein, for all of their support and encouragement, and all of our family and friends who came to be with Aaron on this beautiful, auspicious day.