August 18, 2005

It\’s not easy for a kid to find out that his parents are spies, and that he and his sister have to rescue them from evildoers.

But it\’s not as hard as trying to learn Hebrew from scratch in six months for a bar mitzvah — especially when the spy scenario is fictional and the bar mitzvah is real.

So it was for Daryl Sabara, the cherubic red-headed star of three \”Spy Kids\” films. He and his twin brother, Evan, also an actor who appeared in \”Spy Kids,\” were bar mitzvahed at Chabad of Brentwood last month after studying with the synagogue\’s rabbi, Baruch Hecht, for half a year.

As professional actors, it would have been a cinch for the Sabaras to memorize their Torah portion phonetically, just like many kids who don\’t know Hebrew. But the twins really wanted to learn Hebrew — and about their heritage.