My question is what is wrong with the mother? Spending 40K for a 13th birthday party?
As adduncan said I also have a problem with the fact that the person in charge of the synagogue didn't say no. When my cousins were younger they went to a lot of bar/bat mitzvahs for their friends, and one kids parents bought him a porsche....hello the kid is 13...he' can't drive that. My aunt was telling me how lavish some of these parties are in her area, I was disgusted.
