Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program

We view bar/bat mitzvah (collectively, "b'nei mitzvah) as a milestone rather than a “graduation.” In light of that, our educational program is not designed specifically with the “end” of b'nei mitzvah in mind. Jewish tradition says that children automatically become bar or bat mitzvah at age thirteen or twelve and half (for boys and girls, respectively). Marking b'nei mitzvah with a ceremony is a child’s and family’s option. The ceremony, ritual and celebration around b'nei mitzvah is a communal way of marking an event that happens with the passage of time. That said, most children and families decide to have a ceremony to mark the occasion.

All of our Beit Sefer Phyllis Mintzer classes guide students toward b'nei mitzvah, teaching text, liturgy, Hebrew, mitzvot and Jewish identity. In addition, each student is paired with an adult congregant who guides him or her through more specific b'nei mitzvah studies. In the year leading up to bar or bat mitzvah, students participate in our "13 Mitzvot Project," learning to take responsibility for making the world a better place through individual, family and class mitzvot. They also co-lead Shabbat services at least four times in the months before their bar/bat mitzvah ceremony.