In an unforgettable “Save the Date” video for his bar mitzvah, 12-year-old Atlanta boy Daniel Blumen raps to “Welcome to Atlanta” by Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri and hosts celebrity cameos from the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Ne-Yo, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. “Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play,” Blumen sings. “Hopin’ you can make my bar mitzvah day / Thirteen years since I was born / And the party won’t stop ’til Sunday mornin’.” Daniel’s father, Rick Blumen, declined to say how much it cost to produce the video, but told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “it was not expensive. The paper invitations are more expensive, and they are not fancy.”
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In 2005 David Brooks spent an astonishing $10 million on his daughter Elizabeth’s bat mitzvah, which featured live performances from Aerosmith, 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Don Henley, and Kenny G. The guests received gift bags valued at more than $1,000, and the bat mitzvah girl even got to perform a duet with Steven Tyler. But two years ago, Brooks, a defense contractor, was indicted for insider trading, tax evasion, and other charges. “Right off the bat, he’s going to have a problem with the jury that’s going to be able to comprehend spending $10 million on a bat mitzvah, when most people won’t ever see $10 million in their lifetime,” defense attorney Joe Tacopino said at the time. And he was right—David Brooks pleaded not guilty, but was convicted on 17 counts of securities fraud in 2010.
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“I performed at a bar mitzvah,” Snoop Dogg told Esquire in 2008. “And I’m telling you, man, these little motherfuckers, they were singing my shit, they was cussin’, they were singing the dirty version. I’m talking about 12- and 13-year-old little white kids singin’ this real gangsta shit. Man. I was shocked. I just gave them the mic and let them motherfuckers go.”
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Last November Donald Trump did a menschy thing and made an appearance at his lawyer’s son’s bar mitzvah. According to TMZ, Trump “hung around and schmoozed for a while—and even gave a speech at the coming of age celebration.” And one guest told the site, “It was very heartfelt ... everybody loved it ... and he took tons of photos with everyone who asked.” Mark the calendar now—in 2024 Ivanka Trump’s daughter with Jared Kushner will celebrate her bat mitzvah.
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For his son’s bar mitzvah in 2005, British billionaire Philip Green went big. He spent a reported $7.5 million on the three-day event, which included flying more than 200 guests to the South of France and performances by Beyoncé and Andrea Bocelli. And for his own 60th birthday last year, the Topshop mogul flew celebrities—including Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Hudson, and Simon Cowell—to Mexico, where they played touch football on the beach and took in performances by Robbie Williams and Stevie Wonder.
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Where else would Flo Rida make a bar mitzvah appearance but in … Quebec? In 2011, the rap star gave a reportedly shvitzy performance at a Canadian teenager’s celebration, performing several hits, including “Low,” “Who Dat Girl,” and “Right Round.” No word, however, on his rendition of “Hava Nagila.”
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“I had a bar mitzvah in an Italian restaurant, a very nice Italian restaurant,” Drake revealed in an interview several years ago. “The song of the night was Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way.’” Last year, he was “re-barmitzvahed” in his video for “HYFR,” which begins with video of young Drake wishing viewers “mazel tov.” And in 2011, the Young Money rapper earned some serious coin when he performed at TV executive Jeff Zucker’s son’s bar mitzvah. Drake was paid a reported $250,000 for the appearance, which was considerably cheaper than Andrew Zucker’s first choice, Kanye West, who wanted $1 million.
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In a celebrity-packed video on YouTube, LeBron James, Tyra Banks, Whoopi Goldberg, Andre Agassi, and other stars wish “Brian” a happy bar mitzvah. But it’s Goldberg who dispenses some practical advance to the new man. “It’s Whoopi,” she says conspiratorially. “Listen, do not—and I repeat, do not let them give you this in lieu of a cash gift. You understand ... Happy bar mitzvah. Take the cash.”
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Before he became a movie star, Paul Rudd supported himself as a bar mitzvah deejay—but he started out clueless as to how extravagant they were. “I had never seen bar and bat mitzvah receptions that were such huge deals,” he told The Daily Beast last year. “The Laker girls were at one. It was surreal.” As for his set list, Rudd revealed: “‘U Can’t Touch This’ was pretty big at the time and ‘I’m Too Sexy,’ by Right Said Fred. You had your classics like ‘What I Like About You.’ It was good to start a set with ‘In the Mood’ by Glenn Miller, because then you got the grandparents up and dancing. You don’t throw MC Hammer at them right out of the gate. These are the tricks of the trade.” Rudd also ran a killer game of limbo—while wearing a yellow tuxedo.
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In 1992, Shaun Sperling gave a fearless dance performance to Madonna’s “Vogue” at his bar mitzvah. Twenty years later ++a video of his pose striking++ http://www.thedailybeast.com/videos/2012/08/16/bar-mitzvah-goes-vogue.html went viral on the Web. And a few months after that, the “Bar Mitzvah Boy” got an unexpected present from the Material Girl herself. While attending a Madonna concert in Chicago, the now 33-year-old Sperling was randomly picked from the crowd and got to ++sing along with Madonna to “Like a Prayer.”++http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xtrzke_shaun-sperling-sings-like-a-prayer-with-madonna_music#.USZ67qU5XN8 For Sperling, the “duet” was a religious experience. “I am now even more inspired to continue paying forward the lessons that Madonna taught me 20 years ago of self-respect, love, individuality, acceptance of others and always striving to be a better human being,” ++he wrote on his Facebook page.++https://www.facebook.com/shaunsperling/posts/10151071055025835 “I feel incredibly grateful that my 13-year-old dreams are coming true, and most of all for the love and support that I have in my life.”
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