All the way from California to New Zealand, Jenna and Rebekah (“Becky”) have exchanged emails as electronic pen pals for the last four years. This year they met—twice—to share in Jewish memories neither will soon forget.

Although their families had been friends for years, Jenna and Becky had never met. Four years ago, when Jenna's mom first told her about a friend's granddaughter—Becky—who lived almost 7,000 miles away in New Zealand, and how they thought they'd make great pen pals, Jenna jumped at the opportunity.

The two started emailing back and forth and noticed that they had a lot in common. One night in October 2006 (four years later!), Jenna emailed Becky, saying, “How cool would it be if you and your grandparents could come to the States to celebrate my bat mitzvah in February 2007?” Becky emailed back saying she would try to get her Nanna and Poppa to arrange it so that they could come. They emailed back and forth and had the whole thing figured out—now all they had to do was actually convince the adults in their lives to go along with the plan.

A few days later, Jenna received an email from Becky saying that the plan was on and that she, her mother and her grandparents would be there for Jenna's bat mitzvah in February.

The First Meeting

Jenna and Becky first met on Valentine's Day of 2007. Jenna recalls “freaking out” as she and her mother drove to the airport, wondering whether the two would get along as well in person as they did in email.

As soon as Jenna and her mother pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, she knew everything would be just fine. Becky was standing there with her mother and grandparents waving and smiling. When Jenna got out of the car, Becky came up and gave her a big hug. Jenna remembers, “I almost cried because I was so happy.”

Becky's Bat Mitzvah Experience in the States

Becky was very excited about coming to the United States for the first time and seeing a bat mitzvah ceremony here. She had been told by some friends that bar and bat mitzvot are much different than the ones she had experienced in New Zealand.

For Becky, the Friday night service was very different; during Jenna's Friday evening service, musicians accompanied all of the singing. There was a pianist, violinist and a recorder (flute) player. Jenna told Becky that all of the musicians were members of the congregation. Becky was also amazed because the cantor not only chanted the prayers but played his guitar during the service. Jenna said that on the last Friday night of the month they had a service called “Friday Night Live!” during which the cantor brings in his band and they do a Rock 'n' Roll Shabbat. There was a rabbi, an assistant rabbi, and a cantor. Becky thought this was especially cool because at her synagogue all services and singing are lead by readers from the congregation.

Jenna's Bat Mitzvah Experience in New Zealand

When Jenna's parents told her that they were going to New Zealand to celebrate with Becky's family for her bat mitzvah, she was very excited. What was it going to be like? Would it be the same as her bat mitzvah experience, or different?

Jenna was very surprised when she arrived at Becky's synagogue for the Friday night service. The first thing that surprised her was that there was no rabbi or cantor, but just two members of the congregation that led the service. The second thing that surprised her was how small the sanctuary was. Even so, the service was similar to what Jenna was accustomed to—the congregants sang the same beautiful prayers and used the same familiar prayer books.

The Saturday morning service was almost the same—just a little bit longer! “It was a very beautiful ceremony,” Jenna remembers.

A Bittersweet Goodbye

Jenna and Becky had a very hard saying goodbye to each other before Jenna boarded the plane at the Auckland airport bound home for California.

But when Jenna got home, she remembered that Becky had a camera on her computer that allowed her to talk to friends—face-to-face—over the Internet. She asked her father to set one up for her so that she and Becky could see each other, even though they were thousands of miles away. Now the two talk almost once a week “in person.” And even though they are far apart, they will always be friends on opposite sides of the world.

Rebekah Wadsworth, 13, attends Papatoetoe Intermediate School in New Zealand. Papatoetoe is a Maori word meaning "flatgrassland." She likes reading, particularly Harry Potter, listen to music and playing netball (basketball). She follows the New Zealand netball team The Silver Ferns.

Jenna Wright, 13, attends Aliso Viejo Middle School in Aliso Viejo, Calif. She loves to read, play computer games, make scrapbooks and listen to music. She also loves hockey and cheering on her favorite team, the Anaheim Ducks.