See Also: Cheever, John(encyclopedia)
bar mitzvah(dictionary)
bat mitzvah(dictionary)
mitzvah(dictionary)
Bar Mitzvah(encyclopedia)
bar mitzvah(dictionary)
bat mitzvah(dictionary)

Cheever, John (sh) and Bar Mitzvah (sh)


Cheever, John (sh)




born May 27, 1912, Quincy, Mass., U.S.
died June 18, 1982, Ossining, N.Y.

U.S. short-story writer and novelist.

Cheever lived principally in southern Connecticut. His stories appeared notably in The New Yorker, his clear and elegant prose delineating the drama and sadness of life in comfortable suburban America, often through fantasy and ironic comedy. He has been called the Chekhov of the suburbs. His collections include The Enormous Radio (1953), The Brigadier and the Golf Widow (1964), and The Stories of John Cheever (1978, Pulitzer Prize). Among his novels are The Wapshot Chronicle (1957), The Wapshot Scandal (1964), and Falconer (1977). His revealing journals were published in 1991. Two of his children, Susan and Benjamin, also became writers.


Bar Mitzvah (sh)




Jewish ritual celebrating a boy's 13th birthday and his entry into the community of Judaism.

It usually takes place during a Sabbath service, when the boy reads from the Torah and may give a discourse on the text. The service is often followed by a festive Kiddush and a family dinner on the same day or next day. Reform Judaism substituted confirmation of boys and girls for the Bar Mitzvah celebration after 1810, but many congregations restored the Bar Mitzvah in the 20th century. A separate ceremony for girls, Bat Mitzvah, has been instituted in Reform and Conservative Judaism.