“So you have your Bar Mitzvah coming up, Lior?”
“Yeah.”
So what happens with the Bar Mitzvah?”
“With the Bar Mitzvah, I’ll grow up.”
“So, what will you do then? Drive a car?”
“No, drink beer.”
In the darkened screening room, the audience chuckles as the 12-year-old Lior Liebling delivers the last line with a naughty smile and a twinkle in his eye. Lior, which means “my light” in Hebrew, is the protagonist of an award-winning film by Illana Trachman, Praying with Lior. This documentary film is about Lior, a special child, a child with Down’s Syndrome, and a child who loves davening (traditional Jewish prayer) and singing, and who every one thinks has a special relationship with God. His faith and belief in Hashem (Hebrew for God) is simple: when asked if God has a smell, a taste or a form, Lior says, “No, no, no. God is God.”
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