Sam Horowitz Viral Bar Mitzvah Hits Small Screen

By Talia Lavin August 16, 2013

(JTA) — The Internet is crazy. That might be the main lesson of the overnight explosion of bar mitzvah dance star Sam Horowitz. The Texas teen’s dance routine has 431,877 YouTube views and counting.

Thanks to his sudden fame, the newly minted man appeared today on “Good Morning America” and showed off his dance moves on Broadway — well, in Times Square, anyway. Clad in a sparkly dance suit like a tiny Jewish Liberace, Horowitz showed his moves like Jagger surrounded by writhing backup dancers in black minidresses. Notably absent were the 20-foot letters spelling his name in neon lights. Maybe Broadway calls for more restraint than a Texas coming-of-age ceremony.

Angela Horowitz, Sam’s mother, appeared beside him, beaming. As well she should. Not every mom can boast that she made her son’s dream of descending from the ceiling in a giant chandelier come true.

Despite the fawning of GMA’s hosts, the YouTube comments trend toward the negative, calling the display everything from “vulgar” to a “shanda.” But Sam is pretty psyched. Every inch of his braces was showing in an ear-to-ear smile.

“It’s like a dream,” Sam told anchor Josh Elliott.

Indeed. Now when can the rest of us wake up?

Talia Lavin is a fact checker for the New Yorker and a Forward columnist writing about Jews in American politics.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO