WATCH: Bar Mitzvah video invitations are a delightful new YouTube new trend

Move over, Harlem Shake. Footage of 13-year-old Jewish boys preparing to become men has the internet transfixed

"Easy come, easy go, will you say shalom?"
(Image credit: YouTube)

In much of America's Jewish community, bar mitzvahs are fondly and half-jokingly referred to as "the most uncomfortable day of your life." Think about it: Newly minted teens, often at the peak of their physical awkwardness, have to chant vowel-less Hebrew passages from the Torah in front of scores — sometimes hundreds! — of their friends and family members, then move on to a party where all eyes are on them as they palm-sweatingly try to work up the nerve to ask another awkward teen to dance. Not exactly YouTube material, right?

Well, okay, the Bar Mitzvah itself doesn't make for a particularly compelling watch. But a growing batch of Bar Mitzvah video invitations are proving to be a huge hit with the YouTube set.

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Emily Shire is chief researcher for The Week magazine. She has written about pop culture, religion, and women and gender issues at publications including Slate, The Forward, and Jewcy.