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Ain’t no mountain high enough for bnei mitzvah kids

Forty-five children and their parents climbed Helvellyn in the Lake District

July 7, 2025 22:47
The Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge group 2025 battled wind and rain to reach the top of Helvellyn (Photo: Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge)
The Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge group 2025 battled wind and rain to reach the top of Helvellyn (Photo: Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge)
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Through “pouring rain and blistering winds”, 45 children celebrating their bar and bat mitzvahs scaled England’s third tallest mountain on Sunday.

Along with their parents, they all completed the Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge – to climb Helvellyn in the Lake District, fundraise for a chosen cause and enjoy a relaxing Shabbat experience.

Nine years ago, Sarah Sultman MBE decided that with her daughter’s bat mitzvah fast approaching, she wanted to make it meaningful. A “keen hiker and trekker” herself, Sultman told the JC how she decided on a hike for kids and parents when talking to her friend, Natalie Jackson, in shul. Initially a group of 40, the recent expedition took over double that number: “Demand is so high every year,” Sultman said. “We sell out.”

The need for a bigger youth hostel in the Lake District brought challenges, as did the weather. Although they always experience some rain in North West England, Sultman said that this was the “first year where the weather really presented a challenge. It was by far the worst weather we have had.” Despite the treacherous conditions, no one complained during the 3,000ft climb. “Everyone embraced the challenge – it was real team building,” Sultman said.

Bnei Mitzvah Challenge leaders (l-r) Matthew Jackson, Sarah Sultman MBE and Natalie Jackson[Missing Credit]

She said that the character development of the young people was an important aspect of the programme. On the coach journey up, it was apparent that “some kids had been cajoled by their parents, or were anxious about the prospect of a long climb”. Sultman explained how, to address these issues, the format of the programme had been “honed over the years. We give everyone a taste of hiking on Friday, then celebrate Shabbat together before the big climb on Sunday.”

The Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge is not affiliated to a specific charity. Each individual child must choose a cause to raise money for. During a moving evening event, each child explains to the group the reasons for their choice. “They’re all very emotional and include some deeply, deeply personal causes,” Sultman told the JC. “From that, we go straight into Kabbalat Shabbat.” To date, around 300 children have raised over £600,000.

After being invited on the initial Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge, mountaineer Alan Hinkes OBE has returned year after year. The first British mountaineer to climb all 14 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 metres, the non-Jewish climbing legend now inspires the Jewish youth with a talk on the Shabbat afternoon.

The Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge 2025 group take a well-deserved break (Photo: Bnei Mitzvah Charity Challenge)[Missing Credit]

Sultman stresses how the weekend would not be possible without the volunteers who help simply “because they love it”. Matthew Jackson leads the team of volunteers. “Sharing our love for the outdoors and adventure whilst raising significant sums of money” was why he helped, he said.

Now sponsored by Israel Bonds, the Challenge can offer bursaries and organisers are able to purchase reusable equipment, removing the need for single-use plastics during the stay in a youth hostel. Israel Bonds also give each child a bond as a bar/bat mitzvah gift, cementing the theme that this experience will remain with the child long into the future.

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