Dec. 14--NEW HAVEN -- Dreams long deferred were finally realized Sunday as 27 elderly people became bar or bat mitzvahs in an emotional ceremony at the Tower One/Tower East housing complex.

There were 27 joyful participants, ranging in age from 62 to 95. The usual age for the ritual is 13. They were joined by their proud sons and daughters, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Some of the families had come from as far away as Texas and California.

The two-hour ceremony was led by Rabbi Benjamin Scolnic of Temple Beth Sholom in Hamden. In his introductory remarks for the event's brochure, Scolnic said, "For many, this is an act of courage, of overcoming all sorts of issues from the past to say, 'Here I am, as Jewish as anyone, as good as anyone, asserting my identity.'"

He noted the ceremony was taking place on Hanukkah, "when we light candles in the darkness of the winter."

More than 400 people gathered in the main dining room of the complex for the celebration. All but two of the 27 live there.

When she thanked Scolnic near the end of the ceremony, Priscilla Garber said, "I never thought in my lifetime I would have a bat mitzvah. Girls didn't have that" when she was young.

Bina Fenig, 88, said afterward that her spiritual and physical journey to Sunday's event began when she was a girl in Poland. During World War II, her family "went from one Polish neighbor to another" and managed to avoid being sent to Nazi concentration camps.

"We survived," she said.

But not everybody in her family made it. "They took my brother out from his house and killed him," she said.

Asked about the significance of her bat mitzvah, Fenig replied, "This means to me, just free. I can be free."

During the worst of her wartime experience, she said, "I always thought, 'This shall pass.' And I thank God I am here in America."

The profiles of the 27 participants, printed in the brochure based on interviews by volunteer Isabel Bailin, gave them a chance to explain the circumstances which denied them this rite of passage when they were young.

Terry Berger said in her town, only Christians went to church. Her family wanted to fit in, so she went to Sunday school with the rest of the kids. She said Sunday's bat mitzvah "contributes to the wholeness of my Jewish life."

Milly and Lionel Brody, the only couple participating, said they wanted to enjoy the ceremony together. She had a bat mitzvah 20 years ago.

Ruth Landau Levy Cohen described the occasion as "the cherry on a sundae." She noted she did not have a bat mitzvah when she was young "since girls did not have the chance."

Anne Kaplan said the time for a bat mitzvah is "now or never. At my age, 95, it is an accomplishment to have one."

Edward Rothchild was born during the Depression, his mother always owed money and the family was not part of a synagogue. He said Sunday's ceremony "is now filling a gap of my past."

Herbert Small was another child of the Depression whose family struggled financially. "Eating was more important than a bar mitzvah."

The other participants Sunday were: Minnie Cohen, Eva Cooper, Ethel Epstein, June Finkel, Pauline Goodman, Shirley Granoff, Irene Greenberg, Frances Hecht, Helen Kaplan, Heidi Korrick, Ruth Krawetz, Sylvia Rifkin, Ruth Rudnick, Blanche Sapadin, Martha Seldon, Heidi Vernick, Anne Weiss and Rose Zemel.

Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com or 203-789-5766.

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