MOUNT HOPE, West Virginia (July 25, 2023) The Shomer Shabbat Contingent attending Scouting’s 20th National Jamboree hosted a rare Bar Mitzvah for three Scouts at the Synagogue Tent at the Summit Bechtel Reserve, in Glen Jean, West Virginia. (Left to Right) Rabbi Avi Hoffman of Brooklyn, New York, performed the service for brothers Gabriel G. (age 14) and Joshua G. (age 17) of West Haven, Connecticut; and Colton P. (age 15) of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Shomer Shabbat Contingent – part of 15,000 male and female Scouts and Scouters of many different faiths attending the Jamboree – consists of more than 40 Orthodox Scouts from across the US and Israel. The Contingent’s presence at the Jamboree also provides greater understanding of what’s required to identify themselves with the Hebrew Shomer Shabbat, or Sabbath observant. “A Scout is Reverent” is the 12th point of the Scout Law, which provides Scouts with core values to live by.