Episode
Touched by an Angel: Bar Mitzvah
Overview
Ross Berger, an 83 year old owner of a successful chain of exercise gyms, credits his recovery from a stroke to his own physical strength and will. He considers himself a self-made man and believes religion is for the weak. Ross' son Alan, on the other hand, is a man of faith in God and a well-respected college professor who deeply values his Jewish heritage. Alan's son Aaron, who is preparing for his bar mitzvah, admires his grandfather's physical strength more than his father's spiritual faith. Monica and Tess agree to help Ross produce an exercise video for stroke victims, while Andrew tutors Aaron in Hebrew, teaching him the true meaning of the bar mitzvah, the acceptance of his new responsibilities as a man of God. Alan's wife Connie is worried about Ross' influence on Aaron, but is even more concerned about Alan's frequent dizzy spells, one of which results in a serious car accident. When Alan receives the news that he is dying from a rapidly growing brain tumor, he confide
Details
- Series
- Touched by an Angel
- Season
- Season 6
- Episode
- Episode 18
- Air date
- 2000-03-12
- Runtime
- 48 min
Episode context
Bar Mitzvah is Episode 18 in Season 6 of Touched by an Angel. It aired on 2000-03-12. The runtime is 48 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 17: Here I Am
Monica, Tess, and Andrew find themselves in a New York art museum, each assigned to a different individual. The museum is full of visitors of all ages, including a class of young children on a field trip. Keeping a wary eye on these youngsters is Bud, an older security guard whose retirement begins at the end of the day. Bud has emotional walls between himself and the rest of the world, and it is Tess's assignment to help knock them down. Monica is talking to Antonio, an artist who despises his displayed painting, a modern art piece compromising of yellow and above black whose dividing line is flawed by a solitary bump. In another wing, Andrew has revealed himself as the angel of death to Constance, a woman who has just discovered that she has cancer and is trying to determine what she has contributed to the world. Tess discovers that Bud is obsessed with a painting of a little girl holding flowers. Bud protects this painting more than any other in the museum, and even makes the
Episode 19: True Confessions
As Monica and Tess discuss the end of winter, Tess reminds Monica that in some places winter lasts all year round. One such place is the Kewanee Women's Correctional Facility where Monica's assignment, Carla Robinson, is doing 25 years to life for murder. Monica joins the prison staff as a social worker and begins to implement a prison theater program. With Tess' help as a prison guard, Monica is able to get a small group of the prisoners to open up about themselves and their crimes. Carla though claims to be innocent and spends her time trying to get a pardon. Meanwhile, Andrew is a hospice nurse to Santos Gonzales, the father of Orbie, the man Carla was convicted of murdering. Even after several years, Santos is still bitter about Orbie's death. At the prison, Monica chooses to play ""Agnes of God"" for the women to perform for the rest of the inmates. ""Agnes of God"" tells the story of a young nun who becomes pregnant as a result of being raped. Agnes is accused of murdering t
More episodes from this season
Episode 16: A Perfect Game
The angels arrive at the Cherry Lanes Bowl-A-Rama where they meet Ziggy, the unhappy owner of the alley. Despite the fact that it is technically the angels ""night off,"" Monica takes immediate interest in helping the cantankerous woman. Ziggy, who is too proud to ask for help from anyone, refuses Monica's offers to watch the counter. At the same time, Darrell, a security guard, is led into the bowling alley blindfolded. Darrell's friends have brought him to Cherry Lanes to celebrate his birthday, unaware that Darrell and Ziggy, though once best friends, haven't spoken in years. Ziggy's resentment of Darrell is immediately apparent. As Andrew and Tess teach Monica to bowl, she's ecstatic when she knocks down one pin, but even more excited to learn that she gets a second chance at the remaining pins. On another lane, Tess counsels Renee and Warren, a newly engaged couple, who argue about whom to invite to their wedding. Monica questions Ziggy about her anger toward Darrell and sug
Episode 20: Quality Time
Toni Cozzi organizes her life the same way she runs her family, in adherence to rigid schedule. Monica and Tess watch unseen as Toni prepares for her day, completing even the simplest tasks with perfect timing. Toni's way of keeping her family safe. That family includes: Amy, a high school volleyball player, and Angelo, the youngest, whose specialty is playing the tuba and getting into mischief. The family is just days away from the grand opening of their new pizza parlor ""Paul and Toni's Perfect Pizza."" Monica is hired as a chef and Andrew as a handyman. As Monica begins making the pizza, it becomes apparent that Toni won't reveal the secret of her family sauce, not even to her own family! At the same time, Toni worries about Amy's increasing appetite and water intake, and about her general moodiness, scared that Amy is getting into drugs. When Amy collapses on the volleyball court, the doctors diagnose her with juvenile diabetes. Tess, the nurse, teaches the family about the
Episode 15: Life Before Death
Monica is ecstatic to be assigned to help her beloved Ireland, where she first set foot on earth. Her assignment is a group of teens from Northern Ireland, whom she hopes to persuade to come to the United States through a program called Project Children. However, the group of teens is made up of both Catholics and Protestants, religious groups that have been fighting a bloody religious war for centuries. Recently, a peace treaty was signed, but peace is dependent on the youth of Ireland. Monica interviews teenagers of the program, and finds bitterness and prejudices on both sides. She hopes that two particular teenagers, Tommy, a Catholic, and Rose, a Protestant, will be able to lead the others into peace. Tommy's brother Gavin, whom Tommy greatly admires, also encourages Tommy to work towards peace by accepting the trip to America. In America, the teens find that their prejudices are strong, and they are reluctant to overcome them. The first night, Tommy and Rose both wake fro
Episode 21: Living the Rest of My Life
Abby is a 71 year old widow who spends her days watching soap operas and her nights doting to her overly-attached son Phillip and his wife Judith. Monica and Tess's assignment is to help cut the apron strings between mother and son. When Monica arrives at Abby's door to collect clothes for the ""Living the Rest of My Life"" Retirement Community fundraiser, Abby is skeptical. Later, when Tess tells her about the activities that take place at ""Living the Rest of My Life,"" Abby agrees to visit to see for herself. Abby is excited to find many seniors who keep busy with all sorts of activities, though she tries to mask her enthusiasm. She meets Ramone, a young graffiti artist who serves mandatory community service hours by helping Andrew, the Community's handyman, paint the hallways. Abby also meets Lois, a retired artist and widow, who hides in her apartment angrily refusing to socialize with the other community members. Abby uses Lois and Ramone as reasons why she wouldn't want to mo
Episode 14: Buy Me a Rose
Greg and Ellen Sawyer have been married for 19 years. Tess and Monica's assignment is to make sure they stay married well past twenty. Greg, a successful Portland developer, is often to preoccupied with his work to notice Ellen. But when securing a business deal takes precedence over their 20th wedding anniversary celebration, Ellen begins to question her marriage. When Monica, working as Ellen's assistant, helps her go through some old boxes, Ellen discovers love letters from an old boyfriend, a musician named Denny. The passionate letters reawaken Ellen's sense of romance and she begins to wonder if she made a mistake in marrying Greg instead of Denny. Meanwhile, Andrew refuses to sell Greg a lucrative piece of property that would cement Greg's plans for a waterfront condo. In the ensuing negotiations, Greg barely notices when Ellen leaves to celebrate their anniversary alone at their cabin in the woods. Instead of going to the cabin, Ellen detours to Oregon City, in hopes of
Episode 22: Stealing Hope
Ricky Hauk has just received the news that he's being laid off from his dead-end job as a mechanic at Al's Gas Station. Ricky vents his frustration by writing poetry on the bathroom wall, quickly erasing it before it can be preserved for posterity. Monica is hired to take inventory at the station, and she encourages Ricky to pursue his writing. When Shelley, a local college student, arrives with her snobby boyfriend Marshall, Ricky is immediately smitten. When Marshall notices Ricky's college hat, he accuses him of being a poseur, and the boys exchange words. As Marshall and Shelley leave, Ricky discovers Shelley dropped her school I.D. Later, Ricky agrees to help his little brother Joey win the Invention Convention at the College. When Shelley returns to the station in search of her I.D., Ricky claims to be a student at the college. Shelley suggests he enroll in her writing class. Ricky agrees to check it out. Ricky's mother Ellen is frustrated to find out about Ricky's plan
Episode 13: A House Divided
Andrew, on assignment as a sixth-grade teacher, resides over a parent-teacher night at the school. A simple game the parents plat turns into a scene when a divorced couple, Martin and Janet, argue over who better knows their son, John is humiliated in front of his classmates, but quietly hides his grief as Tess and Monica watch, unseen. As Andrew builds a relationship with John, he begins to understand the tug-of-war that is John's life. John lives with his mother and her new husband Phil, and spends the weekends with his father. When Martin and Janet do have to deal with each other, their communication is riddled with subversion and insults. One weekend while John and Martin eat pizza at a local restaurant, they run into Andrew and Monica, who describes herself as an ""advocate"", someone who helps people. When Janet arrives at the restaurant to deliver John's homework another fight erupts, and John decides that he would like to enlist Monica's services to help him divorce his par
Episode 23: Monica's Bad Day
Late one night in New York City, a desperate Monica hails a cab and demands that Merl, the driver, take her to the Queensborough Bridge, she says if she doesn't reach the bridge by 10 pm, someone will die. Flynn Hodge, the proprietor of Flynn's Bar and Grill also hops in the cab, claiming Monica hasn't paid her dinner bill. Tess and Andrew watch from the curb, noting that Monica is having a really bad day. in the cab, Monica tells the man that she is an angel and that they think she is crazy. Monica reminds Flynn that it was something he did earlier in the day that led to this desperate situation. Flashback to that morning, Flynn rushes to the bank to appeal a foreclosure on his restaurant. Due to Monica's poor parallel parking job, Flynn misses his meeting and, despite Monica's apologies, he yells at her. Tess counsels Monica to forgive Flynn right then rather than harbor her own anger and take it out on someone else. Meanwhile, Andrew counsels Simon to meet his estranged son
Episode 12: With God As My Witness
In Tess and Monica are on hand to witness their next assignment, Jim Sullivan, get fired from his job as a construction foreman. Trying to warn the project managers of potential safety hazards, Jim instead incurs their wrath. Tess reminds Monica that humans value themselves for what they do, rather than for who they are. In light of this, the angels must keep Jim from making any desperate decisions. Unable to find more construction work, Jim takes a low-paying job as a limousine driver and worries that he will be unable to financially support his wife and two daughters. As the bills pile up, Jim does make a desperate decision. Tailing his co-worker's advice, Jim decides to drive a questionable by generously-tipping client around for the evening. Monica, the limo dispatcher, warns against it, but the promise of quick cash is too tempting to refuse. Stuart Deane, Jim's passenger, is secretive about his business and appointments. Jim learns too much when Deane leaves their last
Episode 24: A Clown's Prayer
Monica and Tess laugh as they look at themselves in the mirrors of the fun house at the Grazeldi circus. Tess reminds Monica that, like their distorted mirror images, the circus is all about illusion. Davey Tucker seems like circus, yet Davey dreams about being a regular boy. Davey's father Leroy, an achondroplasoc dwarf, works as a circus clown. Since Wally Grazeldi is unable to pay the performers, many are quitting the show. But Leroy steadfastly remains, and Tess, a ""talent scout"" offers the talents of Monica as a clown and Andrew as a ringmaster. What Wally really needs is a human cannonball. He asks Leroy, but Leroy refuses, he has a phobia of small spaces. As Monica is coached in clowning by Leroy, she begins to learn more about the Tuckers, how close the father and son have been since Davey's mother, also a little person, died when he was a baby. Davey befriends Mary Jane, a local schoolgirl who is teased by her classmates for being overweight.