See What These Proud Jewish Stars Looked Like at Their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs

Mar. 15, 2025

Alicia Silverstone and her grandfather at her Bat Mitzvah; Andy Cohen at his Bar Mitzvah.Photo:Alicia Silverstone/Instagram; Andy Cohen/Instagram

Alicia Silverstone/Instagram; Andy Cohen/Instagram

One of the most meaningful cultural and religious moments for many Jewish people is their Bar or Bat Mitzvah, the rite of passage that marks the transition to adulthood around the age of 12 or 13. After months of studying Hebrew, the honoree reads a portion of the Torah to friends and family, and then frequently celebrates afterwards with a party.For these celebrities, their Bar or Bat Mitzvahs were nights to remember, whether they took place in awesomely ’80s attire or happened more recently, after converting to Judaism. See throwback photos from the Bat and Bar Mitzvah photos from noteworthy names includingAlicia Silverstone,Chelsea Handler,Nick Kroll,Andy Cohenand more.

One of the most meaningful cultural and religious moments for many Jewish people is their Bar or Bat Mitzvah, the rite of passage that marks the transition to adulthood around the age of 12 or 13. After months of studying Hebrew, the honoree reads a portion of the Torah to friends and family, and then frequently celebrates afterwards with a party.

For these celebrities, their Bar or Bat Mitzvahs were nights to remember, whether they took place in awesomely ’80s attire or happened more recently, after converting to Judaism. See throwback photos from the Bat and Bar Mitzvah photos from noteworthy names includingAlicia Silverstone,Chelsea Handler,Nick Kroll,Andy Cohenand more.

01of 14Alicia SilverstoneAlicia Silverstone and her grandfather.Alicia Silverstone/InstagramTheCluelessstar shared a sweet throwback photo of herself sharing a dance with her grandfather on her big day to Instagram writing, “With my beloved Grandpa Sydney Silverstone at my Bat Mitzvah❤️”

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Alicia Silverstone

Alicia Silverstone and her grandfather.Alicia Silverstone/Instagram

Alicia Silverstone/Instagram

TheCluelessstar shared a sweet throwback photo of herself sharing a dance with her grandfather on her big day to Instagram writing, “With my beloved Grandpa Sydney Silverstone at my Bat Mitzvah❤️”

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Chelsea Handler

Chelsea Handler/instagram

Handler shared a retro photo of her curly-haired teenage self at the Torah, becoming a Jewish woman. “Don’t ever say I’m not a real Jew. My bat-mitzvah. Mazel,” the comedian wrote onInstagram.

“It’s the only thing I knew growing up, so if I had to go to pray somewhere, I would go to a synagogue. That’s the only thing I know,” Handler toldHuffPost Livein 2014, speaking on her relationship with Judaism. She also underscored the experience of being a Jew, despite her being in an industry where she’s not alone. “Jews are underdogs — not in my world, obviously, they’re not. [But] there’s a lot of anti-Semitism going on,”

03of 14Doug EmhoffWhile breaking fast after Yom Kippur with Alex Edelman and Benj Pasek, the former Second Gentleman (and first Jewish principle in the White House) answered some Jewish trivia in order to secure the “nice Jewish boys endorsement.” That included flashing a photo of his ’70s Bar Mitzvah suit, a three-piece brown velour number (seen about halfway through the video) that embodied the disco vibes of the era.

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Doug Emhoff

While breaking fast after Yom Kippur with Alex Edelman and Benj Pasek, the former Second Gentleman (and first Jewish principle in the White House) answered some Jewish trivia in order to secure the “nice Jewish boys endorsement.” That included flashing a photo of his ’70s Bar Mitzvah suit, a three-piece brown velour number (seen about halfway through the video) that embodied the disco vibes of the era.

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Nick Kroll

Nick Kroll/instagram

Kroll shared an adorable flashback from his Bar Mitzvah. In the early ’90s-era snapshot, a young Kroll grins from ear to ear as he hugs a childhood crush.

Although Kroll typically works in comedy, he undertook a serious role inOperation Finale, a 2018 historical drama about post-war Nazi crimes. He played Rafi Eitan, who led an operation to arrest a former SS officer called Adolf Eichmann. Talking toThrillistjust after the movie’s release, the actor explained his connection to the true story on which the film was based.

“It’s a story that I knew about from growing up,” he said. “I think basically every Jewish kid learns about this story because it’s an interesting one and it’s captivating because it’s about the Holocaust but it’s not. And it’s about Jews being badasses. It scratches a lot of different itches.”

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Dianna Agron

Dianna Agron/instagram

At the beginning of the pandemic, theGleealumna dipped into her teenage photo archive and shared a glimpse at her Jewish upbringing. “Figured I could go for a midnight quarantine stroll down Bat Mitzvah memory lane. Chag Sameach ✌🏼,” Agron captioned anInstagramof her reading from the Torah, which she posted during Passover in 2020.

Agron spent a few years of her childhood in Texas, where she remembers being “severely bullied for being Jewish,” as she toldCoveteurin 2017. Her experience with anti-Semitism has even made her question whether or not she would raise her future children to be religious. “Thinking about how I’m going to involve my kids, it’s difficult,” she said. “I love the religion in which I was raised. I see such beauty in other religions, and really to me, it’s about family and values and how that tethers you to everybody else.”

06of 14Madonna’s Daughters Stella and EstereMadonna/InstagramIn Sept. 2024,Madonna shared photos of her twin 12-year-old daughters Stella and Estereas they celebrated their Bat Mitzvahs in New York City, including photos of the family with the rabbi and their older brother David holding the Torah.

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Madonna’s Daughters Stella and Estere

Madonna/Instagram

In Sept. 2024,Madonna shared photos of her twin 12-year-old daughters Stella and Estereas they celebrated their Bat Mitzvahs in New York City, including photos of the family with the rabbi and their older brother David holding the Torah.

07of 14Andy CohenAccording to his throwback photo, the Bravo personality looked laser focused at his Bar Mitzvah ceremony in the ’80s. Cohen stylishly complemented his traditional Jewish garb — the kippah on his head and tallit around his shoulders — with a tweed blazer and some tinted frames.“Why WOULDN’T I wear transition glasses at my Bar Mitzvah??? 🙄,” said theWatch What Happens Livehost wrote onInstagram.Cohen is a proud Jew; he not onlyspeaks out against anti-Semitismbut also weaves his religious values into his everyday career. Each episode ofWWHLends with Cohen’s “Mazel of the Day,” a title awarded to something good he’s come across. “I know it’s not the exact definition of mazel tov, but to me it’s like a shout-out. It’s something nice, something positive, so there’s a little luck in there too,” he said in conversation with theAtlanta Jewish Times. (Mazel Tov is a congratulatory Yiddish phrase that most closely translates to “best wishes” or “good luck.")

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Andy Cohen

According to his throwback photo, the Bravo personality looked laser focused at his Bar Mitzvah ceremony in the ’80s. Cohen stylishly complemented his traditional Jewish garb — the kippah on his head and tallit around his shoulders — with a tweed blazer and some tinted frames.

“Why WOULDN’T I wear transition glasses at my Bar Mitzvah??? 🙄,” said theWatch What Happens Livehost wrote onInstagram.

Cohen is a proud Jew; he not onlyspeaks out against anti-Semitismbut also weaves his religious values into his everyday career. Each episode ofWWHLends with Cohen’s “Mazel of the Day,” a title awarded to something good he’s come across. “I know it’s not the exact definition of mazel tov, but to me it’s like a shout-out. It’s something nice, something positive, so there’s a little luck in there too,” he said in conversation with theAtlanta Jewish Times. (Mazel Tov is a congratulatory Yiddish phrase that most closely translates to “best wishes” or “good luck.")

08of 14Drakechampagnepapi/InstagramDrake, née Aubrey Graham, was first Bar Mitzvahed in the ’90s with an appropriately music-themed signature board to celebrate, a photo of which he shared on Instagram. He threw himself another Bar Mitzvah when he turned 31 (the inverse of the traditional Bar Mitzvah age, 13) in 2017, this time at Catch with a bevy of celebrity pals.

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Drake

champagnepapi/Instagram

Drake, née Aubrey Graham, was first Bar Mitzvahed in the ’90s with an appropriately music-themed signature board to celebrate, a photo of which he shared on Instagram. He threw himself another Bar Mitzvah when he turned 31 (the inverse of the traditional Bar Mitzvah age, 13) in 2017, this time at Catch with a bevy of celebrity pals.

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Troye Sivan

Troye Sivan/Instagram

In 2022, Sivan played an gay Orthodox Jew in the Paramount+ filmThree Months. After being exposed to HIV, his teenage character, Caleb, falls in love while waiting to hear whether or not he contracted the virus.

In the movie, Caleb’s mother rejects him for his sexuality, which differs greatly from Sivan’s own experience being gay and Jewish.

“For me personally, I definitely had my ups and downs with being gay and Jewish. It was tough,” Sivan toldIndieWireshortly after the film’s release. “Then on the other side of it, I got really lucky. I had an Orthodox rabbi who was so cool about me being gay and so accepting, and literally wanted to invite my boyfriend up to the bimah in shul. It was a very accepting scenario, which I think probably surprised some of the community around us.”

10of 14Billy Eichner”#OldHeadshotDay,” joked theBrosstar onTwitter, sharing a precious shot taken at his Bar Mitzvah. If that wide grin isn’t enough evidence of his enthusiasm, refer to another cheeky Eichner throwback posted toInstagram. The star-to-be can be seen at his Bar Mitzvah party with a temporary tattoo of the Playboy bunny printed on his face. “Once a playa, always a playa,” he wrote in the caption.Speaking on comedian Pete Holmes' podcast,You Made It Weird, Eichner clarified that his Bar Mitzvah wasnotMadonna-themed, as some havepreviously speculated, even though there was a life-sized spray-painted cutout of Madonna on one side of the 1991 party’s DJ booth. “I could not decide whether the theme should be Broadway, which I was very into at the time and still am, or pop music,” said theAmerican Horror Storyactor. “So the theme became Broadway-meets-pop music.“Eichner has been vocal about his religious identity throughout his career. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, he opened up about how he connects with Judaism now. “I’m not a great believer in actual religion at this point,” Eichner explained to the publication in 2020. “But culturally I still feel very connected to it.”

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Billy Eichner

“#OldHeadshotDay,” joked theBrosstar onTwitter, sharing a precious shot taken at his Bar Mitzvah. If that wide grin isn’t enough evidence of his enthusiasm, refer to another cheeky Eichner throwback posted toInstagram. The star-to-be can be seen at his Bar Mitzvah party with a temporary tattoo of the Playboy bunny printed on his face. “Once a playa, always a playa,” he wrote in the caption.

Speaking on comedian Pete Holmes' podcast,You Made It Weird, Eichner clarified that his Bar Mitzvah wasnotMadonna-themed, as some havepreviously speculated, even though there was a life-sized spray-painted cutout of Madonna on one side of the 1991 party’s DJ booth. “I could not decide whether the theme should be Broadway, which I was very into at the time and still am, or pop music,” said theAmerican Horror Storyactor. “So the theme became Broadway-meets-pop music.”

Eichner has been vocal about his religious identity throughout his career. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, he opened up about how he connects with Judaism now. “I’m not a great believer in actual religion at this point,” Eichner explained to the publication in 2020. “But culturally I still feel very connected to it.”

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Seth Rogen

seth rogen/twitter

Rogen dove into his religious and cultural identity to produce and star inAn American Pickle. The HBO comedy revolves around a Yiddish-speaking Polish immigrant who accidentally falls into a pickle jar in 1919, brines for a century, and wakes up in modern-day New York. Rogen and his crew began filming in 2018, just after the shooting atSquirrel Hill’s Tree of Life synagogue. The violence shook his community, but emboldened his storytelling.

“Any questions we had about whether we were making too Jewish of a movie honestly went away when that happened,” said Rogen in conversation with The Ringer. “I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the story we’re telling.’ "

12of 14Este HaimThe eldest Haim sister shared a peek into her Bat Mitzvah glamor on the musical sisters' shared social media. In theInstagram Reel, Este points to a green-screen background of herself in overalls and a white bucket hat, while text and audio tell viewers that this was the outfit she wore to her Bat Mitzvah in 1999. The video’s caption offers one more glimpse into the coming-of-age celebration, reading, “i had my bat mitzvah at a roller rink because of sugar ray.” (She is referring to rock band Sugar Ray’s music video for their song “Every Morning”.)Este and her sister Alana previously gave more details about each of their Bat Mitzvahs in aGQarticle in 2020, like how Alana’s was Mardi Gras themed. The middle sister, Danielle, worried that no one would show up for the party and decided to skip it altogether.Haim has made Judaism a major part of their group identity. They even claim to have launched their careers at Canter’s Deli, a classic Jewish food staple in Los Angeles. TheJewish Journalreported that the girls were paid in matzo ball soup last time they performed there. Upon the release of their third album,Women in Music Pt. III, Haim launched a musical tour of Jewish delis across the nation.

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Este Haim

The eldest Haim sister shared a peek into her Bat Mitzvah glamor on the musical sisters' shared social media. In theInstagram Reel, Este points to a green-screen background of herself in overalls and a white bucket hat, while text and audio tell viewers that this was the outfit she wore to her Bat Mitzvah in 1999. The video’s caption offers one more glimpse into the coming-of-age celebration, reading, “i had my bat mitzvah at a roller rink because of sugar ray.” (She is referring to rock band Sugar Ray’s music video for their song “Every Morning”.)

Este and her sister Alana previously gave more details about each of their Bat Mitzvahs in aGQarticle in 2020, like how Alana’s was Mardi Gras themed. The middle sister, Danielle, worried that no one would show up for the party and decided to skip it altogether.

Haim has made Judaism a major part of their group identity. They even claim to have launched their careers at Canter’s Deli, a classic Jewish food staple in Los Angeles. TheJewish Journalreported that the girls were paid in matzo ball soup last time they performed there. Upon the release of their third album,Women in Music Pt. III, Haim launched a musical tour of Jewish delis across the nation.

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Tiffany Haddish

Emma McIntyre/Getty

Because theGirls Tripactress wasn’t fully aware of her Jewish heritage until adulthood, she didn’t become a Bat Mitzvah until later in life. However, as she explained onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Haddish had been culturally familiar with the religion for some time: She hyped up many Bar and Bat Mitzvah dance floors as a professional “energy producer” for about 11 years.

“It’s very special because as Black people, when we were brought here to America, a lot of our heritage was stripped from us,” said Haddish, speaking toVarietyon the night of her Bat Mitzvah. “Being able to do my DNA test and find out who I really am, I feel like it’s very important to share that with the world, so we can all start digging and find out who we are and start having some honor and pride in ourselves.”

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James Franco

Jeff Vespa/Getty

Franco’s ceremony and celebration marked a major milestone for the actor, who hadpublicly lamentednot being Bar Mitzvahed prior to the charity event. “I do feel like I missed out on the Jewish experience,” Franco toldThe Guardianin 2009. “My Jewish friends tell me not to worry … but I like the idea of religion as a source of community.”

source: people.com