My favorite thing about being Jewish is the food and being different than almost everyone in my school. For me, having a bar mitzvah, or in this case a b’nei mitzvah, means becoming a man. What I learned in preparing for my bar mitzvah is that it is hard work, but it all pays out at the end.

My Mitzvah project was helping the people who don’t have a lot – I did things like passing out breakfast, providing warm jackets for the winter and playing soccer with kids in the community. I chose this for my Mitzvah project because I enjoy helping people and thought it would be great experience to go into the community and understand how some people struggle and have very little. We also fixed up their soccer field to make it safer for the kids. I love giving to people because it makes me happy to see the smiles on their faces, especially the kid’s faces when we played soccer.

As an adult, I would like to visit Israel often to see the Holy Land and experience the culture of my ancestors. I think this would be an incredible experience and one I could pass down to my children.

Alex is the son of Melissa and Adrian Fabrikant. He is the brother of Alana Fabrikant. He is the grandson of Susan and Albert Fabrikant of Parkland, Florida and Clara Maloney of Albany, New York. He remembers loving his grandfather Francis “Mike” Maloney, of blessed memory. Send notes of mazel tov.