Rapper Drake Throws a Re-Bar Mitzvah Party on His 31st Birthday
Could the world’s hottest rapper be any more of a nice Jewish boy?
According to the New York Post, Drake’s 31st birthday party on Oct. 23 was themed “Aubrey’s re-bar mitzvah.” The Jewish rapper’s real name is Aubrey Drake Graham — and 31, in case you didn’t realize, is the reverse of 13, the age at which Jewish law says boys become men.
Drake did have a bar mitzvah at the age of a 13, telling Digital Spy in 2012, “We kinda just did it in the basement of an Italian restaurant, which I guess is kinda like a faux pas.”
“I told myself that if I ever got rich, I’d throw myself a re-bar mitzvah,” Drake continued.
After an intimate rooftop dinner with friends and family at Catch LA, Drake relocated to the nightclub Poppy in West Hollywood, which was re-named as Papi for the night as a reference to Drake’s “Champagne Papi” moniker. There he was feted by a who’s who of celebrity friends, including actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx and Tobey Maguire, as well as football star Odell Beckham Jr.
“I told myself that if I ever got rich, I’d throw myself a re-bar mitzvah.” — Drake
The party was thoroughly bar mitzvah-themed, from the photo booth to the Dippin’ Dots ice cream pellets for guests to enjoy. Pizza also was served in boxes that read “Papi’s Pizzeria.”
To underscore the theme, Drake posted an image of his “bar mitzvah board” — seemingly original from 1999 — to Instagram. It featured a collage of Drake baby pictures.
Drake’s bar mitzvah board on Instagram
Adding to the glitz and glamour of the party were a marching band, sparklers and fine wine, according to “Entertainment Tonight.” Attendees, dressed in semi-formal attire, toasted Drake with red Solo cups with his name on them and sang “Happy Birthday.” Drake’s father, Dennis Graham, gave a speech on how proud he was of his son and performed numerous songs for him, according to eonline.com.
Throughout the party, Drake acted as a bartender, disc jockey and master of ceremonies.
Drake has an African-American father and Jewish mother. He attended a Jewish day school in Toronto and parodied his bar mitzvah while hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2014.
The rapper has a song titled “Bar Mitzvah in 1999,” which has lyrics that include “I’m Black and Jewish / Don’t be so foolish / I’m Black and Jewish / It’s a mitzvah.”
The rapper’s 2016 album “Views” and his 2017 follow-up “More Life” both broke Spotify streaming records and sold millions of copies around the world.
JJ Inside The Print
There are certain weeks in the news business when the pressure becomes almost unbearable. Last week was one of them. First, there was the continuing shock...
Among the many tragedies of the past couple of weeks, on Oct. 24 the bodies of two young Saudi Arabian sisters were found near the...
I don’t think it’s overly dramatic to characterize the current state of American society as a cold Civil War. Our population is as divided as...
American Jews headed to the polls on Nov. 6 spurred by concern over health care, gun violence and the predatory glances that Republican politicians have...
The great poet Robert Frost wrote, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” I am...
My 72 hours started on the afternoon of Nov. 8, when I wrote my bimonthly email: “Thank G-d for the Jewish Federation.” This was said to...
The Nov. 6 elections were a battle between soccer moms and NASCAR dads. These are the voters who represent the two opposing forces in American...
This was the “next time.” Words fail, but words right now are all I can muster. We were on the dance floor, in the middle...
American-born Yehuda Goldberg always felt he missed out by forgoing the chance to spend a year in Israel after high school. On the other hand,...
It’s Nov. 13 and all of Israel is focused on the Gaza Strip. This morning, after a barrage of Hamas missile attacks, it appeared Israel...
The video was heartbreaking. A father, Jason Coffman, spoke before the cameras of his 22-year-old son, Cody, who had just been murdered in yet another...
The Jewish community has been reeling from the Woolsey wildfire in Malibu, Thousand Oaks and nearby areas, which destroyed much of Wilshire Boulevard Temple Camps, the...
[caption id="attachment_241957" align="aligncenter" width="1800"] Jace Kletter reads from the Torah as MJCS Cantor Marcelo Gindlin (far left) and (from left) Jeff, Josie and Jett Kletter...
Among the thousands of residents evacuated from their homes in the deadly Southern California wildfires, Rabbi Ron Li-Paz of Valley Outreach Synagogue in Calabasas counts...
[caption id="attachment_241842" align="aligncenter" width="3003"] Photo by Aaron Bandler[/caption] Camp JCA Shalom, a program of the Shalom Institute is just one of the institute's camps that...
On Sunday morning, Yuri Hronsky, Head of School at Ilan Ramon Day School in Agoura Hills, had to briefly step away from a phone interview...
As the Woolsey fire ravaged Malibu on Nov. 9, Lindsey Cooper and Laura Berman’s plans for their wedding, set to take place on the evening...
As the fires continued to rage through Southern California, members of the Jewish community took to social media to share their thoughts and feelings. Below...
In pedestrian averse L.A., Sam Grundwerg, the Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles, walked 10 miles on Rosh Hashanah and six miles on Yom...
Given their growing tech ecosystems, it seems only natural that Israeli startups and Los Angeles’ Silicon Beach should come together — and that’s exactly what Fusion...
The love and affection for a most unlikely heroine — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — apparently knows no bounds. The 85-year-old justice, dubbed the...
One verse, five voices. Edited by Salvador Litvak, Accidental Talmudist "Jacob kissed Rachel, and he raised his voice and wept." -Genesis 29:11 Yafa Benaya Arevot Women’s...
We still haven’t caught our collective breaths in the aftermath of the horror in Pittsburgh, the heartbreaking shooting in Thousand Oaks, the approaching caravan of desperate...
Already winning rave reviews in advance of its release, the film “Green Book” is about a black pianist and the white driver/bodyguard he hires for...
“Nightmare visions you can dance to.” That’s what Ron Kadish, Daniel Kahn’s publicist, says about “The Butcher’s Share,” a new album by the klezmer group...
Three generations struggle with the fallout in the aftermath of a horrific tragedy in Wendy Graf’s play “Exit Wounds,” which has its world premiere Nov....
List No. 1: Standing Up for One Another In response to the mass shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh and to rising anti-Semitism in the...
Unlike any other anti-Semitic incident, the Tree of Life Congregation tragedy has destroyed American Jews’ assumptions about our place in American society. We believed that...
In a Journal story about giving, is it fair to write about how not to give? Our leaders love inspiring us to give, but I...
Political polarization entered into the awards ceremony of the 32nd annual Israel Film Festival (IFF) on Nov. 6, midterm election day, when some members of...
FRI NOV 16 Ensemble For These Times Northern California-based chamber music group Ensemble for These Times performs music by composers who fled Europe in the...
SUN NOV 18 Before Thanksgiving, Wilshire Boulevard Temple helps the hungry and the homeless. Volunteers assemble 1,000 complete dinners-for-four and distribute them on the spot...
My grandmother was formidable, strong, built to last. After surviving the trauma of Auschwitz, she moved to the United States only to become a stranger...
Stan Lee, whose work as a writer, editor and publisher at Marvel Comics in the 1960s changed the superhero landscape with creations like Spider-Man, the Fantastic...
Dave Lux, Holocaust survivor and Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust community member, died on Oct. 29. He was 85. Lux was born on April...
Legumes, including beans, peas and lentils, have a storied association with Jewish history. In the “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food,” historian and food writer Gil Marks notes...
Playing the predatory agent Ari Gold for eight seasons on HBO’s “Entourage” and one film, Jeremy Piven generated plenty of laughs and more than a...