“Mazeltov!” shouted everyone in the shul.
Ben had finished reading his bar mitzvah portion. He looked up from the Torah and could see Mom and Dad beaming. Grandpa also had a huge smile on his face and even Ant and Carla looked happy for him.
The rabbi came over and shook his hand.
“Wonderful, Benjamin, wonderful,” he said. “You did yourself and your family proud. Mazeltov.”
“Thank you, Rabbi,” said Ben, looking at the rabbi. It was hard to believe that just a short while ago the man standing in front of him had been frozen and was about to be taken over by an alien, just like everyone else in the shul.
Ben stepped down from the bimah and went back to his seat. All the people in his row congratulated him again and Mom gave him a huge hug, which made Ben turn redder than a very embarrassed tomato. Carla also gave him a hug which went on a little too long and was a bit too tight, but thankfully, Dad just shook his hand and Ant patted him on the back.
Ben also felt pleased with himself. He had read from the Torah in front of everyone in shul and made his family proud. It was quite an achievement. Unfortunately, as Ben sat through the rest of the service, he became restless and fidgety. Thoughts of the aliens and what had happened came back to him. Even they wouldn’t know what he’d done because they thought he was someone else. An alien just like them.
The unfairness of it all started to bubble away inside Ben. He was old enough to know that you shouldn’t do good things just to receive a reward, but that really wasn’t what he wanted. He simply needed someone—anyone—to know what he had done.
The service ended and everyone moved to the room next door for kiddush.
The tables were piled high with food—gefilte fish balls, bagels, hummus, salads, cakes, cookies, and more—and the moment the rabbi had finished saying the blessing, people pounced on them and started devouring everything. It was as if they hadn’t eaten for weeks.
Being the bar mitzvah boy, Ben stood with his parents to one side as a stream of friends, relatives, and some people they didn’t know came up to them to say how wonderful Ben had been in shul and how proud his parents must be. It was very kind of them, but Ben was starving. Saving the planet from invading aliens followed by your bar mitzvah is hungry work, and the sight of the food disappearing so quickly was making him anxious. It didn’t help that he could see Ant and Carla happily fressing.
Thankfully, Grandpa came to the rescue.
“Here you are, Benny,” he said.
Ben looked round. Grandpa had joined them and was holding a plate full of delicious-looking food.
“Oh thank you, Grandpa,” said Ben. “I could eat a horse.”
“Well, I’m not sure horse is kosher, so you’ll have to make do with smoked salmon instead,” said Grandpa, smiling.
Ben smiled back as he took a big bite of smoked salmon bagel, followed by a couple of gefilte fish balls and a large pickle.
“You did very well today, Benny,” said Grandpa. “Very well, indeed.”
“Thanks, Grandpa,” said Ben. “You know, it wasn’t as terrifying as I thought it would be. I think I actually enjoyed it once I started reading my Torah portion.”
“What do you mean, Benny?” said Grandpa. He had a slightly mischievous look on his face that Ben couldn’t quite understand.
“Well, my bar mitzvah, of course,” said Ben.
“Ach, I didn’t mean that,” said Grandpa, waving his hand in the air as if he was swatting a fly. “I mean with our friends from outer space.”
“What?” shouted Ben so loudly that half the people in the room stopped eating, though only for a second. “What?” he said again, a lot more quietly. “You remember?”
“Of course I remember,” said Grandpa. “It’s not every day I dress up as an orange and green alien so that my grandson can get into shul and save the world from being taken over.”
“But before,” spluttered Ben. “You … you … you didn’t know what I was talking about.”
“Ach, that was just a joke, Benny,” said Grandpa, grinning. “I was pulling your leg.”
“What are you two laughing about?” asked Mom, looking over.
“Oh nothing, Mom,” said Ben.
“Nothing?” said Grandpa, pretending to be surprised. “My grandson does something amazing and he says it’s just nothing? No. You were incredible today, Benny.”
“Yes, you were, Benjamin,” said Mom, smiling proudly.
Ben felt himself starting to become a little embarrassed again. He really didn’t want Mom to give him another hug. Fortunately, he was saved by Great-Aunt Valerie, who came over holding a huge plate of food, so Mom turned away to speak to her.
“You know, Benny,” said Grandpa. “The parsha you read today.”
“Vayelech. Yes.”
“Maybe that helped you.”
“What do you mean, Grandpa?” said Ben.
“Well, it’s been a long time since I studied Torah,” said Grandpa. “But I think that, in your parsha, Moses says to the children of Israel, ‘Be strong and have courage, fear not, nor be afraid.’”
“You’re right, he does,” said Ben.
“You were strong and courageous, Benny,” said Grandpa. “And you didn’t seem to be afraid.”
Ben was quiet. He was thinking about what Grandpa was saying. Eventually, he said, “I wasn’t the only one who was strong and courageous, Grandpa.”
“Oh, I know, Benny,” said Grandpa. “Fighting my way through to a table to bring you a plate of food was terrifying.”
Ben shook his head and chuckled. Grandpa knew exactly what he’d really meant.