over with his head propped up on his fist, anticipating the time school gave him to bond with friends rather than appreciating the religious meaning.

For Jessa Glassman, a trip to the dog and cat mural covered walls of the hospital isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it could mean the difference to dozens of kids on the pediatric unit of Providence Tarzana Medical Center.

With 17 family members being either born or cared for in the hospital, Glassman became interested in a volunteering opportunity that would involve playing and interacting with patients.

On 86th street in a synagogue called B’nei Jeshurun, Russel Stern rose to the bimah and, reading from the holy old testament, became a Bar Mitzvah. After preparing for the coming of age ceremony for two or threeyears at home and in his tight knit synagogue Stern was ready to step into manhood.

Squatting over a hole in the ground, gazing at the sky, hearing the voices of the people, seeing the water and the food as they hang low, Ariela Rosenzweig,16, found herself at ease with having no toilet paper in the hot Papua New Guinea air.

“I accepted this hole in the ground in Papua New Guinea over the roadside bathroom in South Africa, the clogged airport toilet in Bhutan, the floor with a drain in Singapore, the mud pit in Vietnam, the breakup in the fourth stall to the left in Myanmar,” Rosenzweig said.

Compared to performing in front of tens of thousands at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, or MetLife Stadium, performing in front of