by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

February 17, 2009

If tickets are sold for High Holy Day services, why not for a bar mitzva celebration? In honor of his special day on Saturday, March 7, at Temple Beth El in Oakhurst, Max Bohm and his family will sponsor a benefit rock concert that will raise money for disadvantaged youth in Asbury Park.

The concert, to take place Sunday, March 8, at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, will feature rock bands November Rain (a Guns N’ Roses tribute band), Lost in Society, and Della Valle.

All proceeds from ticket sales, along with any cash gifts that Max receives for his bar mitzva, will be donated to Interfaith Neighbors’ youth corps. The voluntary program engages young adults ages 16-25 in community service projects and also offers job skills and educational programs.

“My bar mitzva got me thinking about helping others,” Max told NJ Jewish News. “I thought beginning my adult life with a mitzva would start me off on the right foot. As for the gifts, I don’t need them. Believe me, I would like them, but I don’t think I need them, so I thought we could give them to people who could really use them.

“I’m hoping that when other kids see how what we are doing is helping, maybe they will see ways that they could help, too — like kids helping kids.”

The concert, which will take place from 4 to 8:30 p.m., is open to the general public.

Guests at Max’s bar mitzva ceremony, along with other family members and friends, have been urged to donate to Interfaith Neighbors in lieu of purchasing gifts for Max, said his mother, Charli Bohm of Ocean Township.

And there’s more good news: a generous trust, whose principals requested anonymity, has pledged a one-for-one matching grant if Interfaith Neighbors can raise $10,000. Max and his family have agreed to donate all ticket proceeds toward the matching amount.

If the matching funds are received, Interfaith Neighbors plans to remodel and expand its existing space to provide additional staff offices and increase conference, private counseling, program, and teaching space.

“That’s our goal — we want to match that pledge,” said Bohm. “Interfaith Neighbors helps so many people, including children that are in Max’s age group. Even if we don’t raise the full $10,000, we will have succeeded in raising awareness of this terrific organization.”

In addition to his mother, a Realtor and owner of a home-staging business, Max’s father, Ron Bohm of Colts Neck, owner of Resources of Nature in South Plainfield, and his stepfather, Eric Bosniak, who is in the advertising field, have all been involved in planning the benefit concert.

Interfaith Neighbors’ involvement with young people struck a chord with Max, a seventh-grade student at Ocean Township Intermediate School.

In conjunction with his bar mitzva project, he and his parents have established the nonprofit Maxwell Bohm Foundation, which may become a permanent fund-raising entity for causes that Max supports.

“When a Jewish boy becomes a bar mitzva, he is now a man and is responsible for his actions,” said Max. “One of the most important requirements of being a man is to give to others in need — tzedaka. My parents and I thought that a fund-raiser will celebrate my bar mitzva and also start my life as a man raising money to help others. I can’t think of a better way to begin my life as a man.”

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