Lots to Say about Saturday – Part 2

Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

As you may recall, from my last post, I had just gorged myself (as much as one can upon teensy crumbles of cheese one eats with toothpicks, anyhow) at Vintner Grill, and was racing down West Charleston to the Life Activities Center at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, where Heidi and David Straus were celebrating the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter, Jaye, with 300 of their nearest and dearest.

Jaye Straus conducts the Havdalah service at her Bat Mitzvah

The event was a Havdalah service, which – for those of you unfamiliar with my faith – is held at the conclusion of the Sabbath, and is a far more brief service than that held on Saturday morning.  While still deemed unusual for such an occasion, it is not unheard of: As a matter of fact, my brother had a Havdalah Bar Mitzvah, and that was more than 20 years ago (of course, my mom always was a bit ahead of her time).  That said, what I found quite incredible was that Heidi Straus had convinced the rabbi to allow a dais to be built (the whole megillah - bimah, ark, etc…) at the Center, and the observers to be seated at their assigned dinner tables, around the dance floor – rather like combining a religious ceremony with the Golden Globes; only with fuchsia tablecloths – and Jaye in a matching fuchsia tallit!  You know what?  (Except for Camille Ruvo being struck in the back of her head by a piece of flying hard-candy), it worked.

Heidi and Jaye Straus

A great deal of why it worked was the setting.  Besides being the first event to be held in the Center (an awe-inspiring building, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect, Frank Geary), is what the building stands for, and the journey that was undertaken to get to where it is, today.  And while the rabbi recounted an amusing anecdote about finally relenting after Heidi’s 25th request to hold her daughter’s bat mitzvah at the Center, I’m sure what must have helped him make the decision was the concept of tzedakah.  While most people simply equate tzedakah as charitable giving or philanthropy, it actually translates to the act of being just, honorable, and virtuous.  It’s a religious obligation and a cornerstone of Judaism.  Seeing as this is a message any rabbi wants to impart to a young congregant and that the Center was built by acts of tzedakah, it begins to make sense.

Anna Robins and Kimberly Gora

Chef Eric Klein and his peeps at Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group (who handle the catering at the Center) did a bang-up job, with a delicious buffet for the adults including enormous spears of crunchy asparagus, vegetarian lasagna, and a fabulous tenderloin, as well as a buffet for Jaye and her friends with deep-fried mac-and-cheese, pigs in a blanket, and those famous Spago pizzas.  Naturally, wanting to be able to report back to you, my darling readers, I partook of both.  There was also a Candy Bar, and a scrumptious array of cupcakes.  Good tidings for sweet times, ahead!

Rendering of the Life Activities Center at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health