Bat Mitzvah - Rebekah McNarney

Rebekah McNarney, daughter of Lauren Roth and Michael McNarney, both of Orlando, was called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, at Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland.

Rebekah, 13, read the Haftarah and a Torah portion from Parasha Yitro. Her bat mitzvah project was to take over an annual project her brother started for his bar mitzvah in 2020. They collect stuffed animals and donations from the community, repair and clean the stuffed animals and match them with new owners at Orlando Day Nursery, a childcare center in Parramore where most children face challenges such as homelessness or poverty.

Rebekah and her brother William both attended Orlando Day Nursery when they were small. Rebekah, a seventh grader at Howard Middle School, plays the viola, percussion and works on the school yearbook. In her sixth grade year, she served as a Scholastic Kid Reporter, one of only two dozen in the nation and the only one in Florida. She wrote about a medical supply drive after the October 7 attacks in Israel and interviewed prominent local women for a story about women in leadership.