Light spills from the depiction of a menorah in the stained glass window of Temple Beth El onto the massive scrolls. He is one of six or seven Jewish youths expected to have bar mitzvahs, or bat mitzvahs for the girls, this year in this West Texas synagogue, said Rabbi Sidney Zimelman. That's an unusually high number, Zimelman said. In congregations five times Temple Beth El's size, only a dozen such ceremonies might be performed.
Jewish youths preparing for the ceremony are serious students.
He's seen the youth group grow to about 15 members from four a few years ago. Temple Beth El's congregation is growing partly because of a new sense of continuity. After nine years of using student rabbis, the congregation hired Zimelman, a retired rabbi who lives in Fort Worth, two years ago. He commutes to Odessa twice a month for services or celebration of the Jewish High Holidays. The increased interest in Judaism is more than local, however, Zimelman said.