Trip to Israel marks rite of passage for family

Inspired by her daughter Shari Gilblair's desire to celebrate a bat mitzvah, Marcia Krinsky, of Prospect Heights, said, "What the heck? I'll do it, too!"

Before they knew it, they were a threesome. Shari, 42, and her son Ryan, an eighth-grader at Winston Campus, in Palatine, studied Hebrew and all of them marked the rites of passage in Israel. Shari and Marcia read from the Torah at the Western Wall. Ryan led the family on a trek up to the ancient ruins at Masada, where he read his portion.

Between Dec. 19 and Jan. 2, the six members of their family were among 15 members of Congregation Anshe Tikvah, in Buffalo Grove who traveled to Israel. They saw the usual sights, but it was the ceremony that left an indelible mark.

Marcia, 54, said, "I've wanted to do this since I was a child, but in Orthodox congregations girls could not read from the Torah. My only wish is that my late husband could have been there."

Al Krinsky died in an auto accident a few years ago. He passed along his tallit (prayer shawl) to his wife and grandson.

"When we draped it over our shoulders, he was there," said the grandmother, a catch in her throat. "We all cried."

Ryan said, "It was just amazing -- really cool. We learned about the battle there -- how Jews lived and fought the Romans.

"My ceremony was at the ruins, in a 'room' without ceiling. We could look down and see the bottom and we saw people coming up.

"We saw the Dead Sea and the sun rise," he added.

Ryan and the others found the rabbi to be very helpful.

"He helped me with parts of my portion and taught me a lot," Ryan said. "Because the others did the same portion, I was helping them chant. My sister and brother read prayers; and mom read the mourner's kaddish, in memory of Grandpa Al.

"We started a new tradition -- passing his tallit before reading."

Ryan's father, Mark, is not Jewish, but even he found the event moving and is also looking forward to returning to Israel.

Officiating at the ceremony was Rabbi Shaul (Paul) Feinberg, who is on the faculty of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He previously was rabbi of Temple Shalom in Chicago.

"I've never officiated at three in one day before," Rabbi Feinberg said. "It was very moving."