Meredith’s bat mitzvah had all the hallmarks of a classic Jewish coming-of-age ritual. There were personalized kippahs embroidered with her name, a crowd of proud friends and family there to witness, a grand entrance by the bat mitzvah girl and beautifully chanted Torah. The only exception, of course, is that the Meredith we’re talking about is 52-year-old Real Housewife of Salt Lake City Meredith Marks, whose late-in-life bat mitzvah was captured in the most recent episode of the Bravo reality series.
Given that the bat mitzvah was the focal point of the episode, titled “Mazel, Meredith,” there was some drama to be had at the bat mitzvah pre-ceremony reception and the afterparty. In short: Meredith and Mary Cosby made up after a fight at a Breakfast with Tiffany brunch, Angie Katsanevas and Bronwyn Newport exchanged barbs about a Camping Day outing the wives had, Lisa Barlow and Whitney Rose had it out, Angie said Brittani Bateman had “high body count” hair and Meredith subsequently had security escort Angie out of the party.
And yet, the ceremony itself was fairly moving. “This is very special for me, most people do this when they’re very young. And this is something I decided to do as an adult to affirm my faith, to affirm my spirituality and my heritage,” Meredith shared in a talking head, just before arriving to the ceremony in a horse-drawn sleigh. (Earlier in the season, Meredith announced her intention to have a bat mitzvah to her husband, Seth, as a way to be proudly Jewish amidst rising hatred and antisemitism in the world.)
Officiated by Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder, who is a contributor on Hey Alma’s partner site, Kveller, the bat mitzvah began with Meredith receiving a tallit from her mother and then saying the blessing over it. In an extremely heartwarming move, the tallit belonged to Seth, who wore it at his own bar mitzvah decades earlier. Meanwhile, Brittani whispered in the audience, “The scarf goes with her outfit.”
In an abridged version of the traditional bat mitzvah ceremony, Meredith then began to leyn her Torah portion. “Being able to read from the Torah, which is the highest honor in the Jewish faith, is so meaningful to me. It’s a very intense moment,” she shared. The moment was also clearly meaningful for Lisa, who wiped away tears from the audience. “Being Jewish by heritage, I love the Jewish faith. I’m lucky that that’s a part of me, and I think it’s really important to remember your heritage and where you came from,” Lisa, whose Jewish family converted to Mormonism when she was a child, reflected.
The ceremony concluded with Seth performing hagbah, Meredith giving a brief speech about her decision to affirm her Jewish faith and her family passing around the Torah scroll l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation. Much like Alex Hall’s Shabbat dinner on an episode of “Selling the O.C.” from earlier this year, “Mazel, Meredith” somehow manages to thread the needle of meaningful Jewish representation on reality TV. To that, we simply have to say: Mazel tov, Meredith! And, l’chaim!
