Blog
We are honored to share with you both the preparation for Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the special day itself. We hope this will mark a milestone in a long partnership that will help nurture your family’s Jewish growth and make Beth El a genuine spiritual home for you.
Our Bar/Bat Mitzvah Handbook, and the other documents listed to the right, contain the basic information you need to prepare for and plan this wonderful milestone in your child's life.
From experience we offer some thoughts and suggestions as you think about this day:
- You are creating memories. Your child will remember this day for the rest of his/her life. Do everything possible to make it positive, enriching and meaningful for family harmony and in Jewish ways, as well.
- Kids watch parents closely and they generalize. The manner in which you prepare for the day communicates your values. Therefore, in addition to planning carefully for receptions and new clothing, devote some time and resources to the Jewish celebration that Bar/Bat Mitzvah is. Attend more services than necessary. Make sure that fathers -- and mothers, too, if they want -- have their own Tallit and Kippah. Start having Challah on Friday nights with Hamotzi. Such actions will broadcast ‘my family cares about Judaism. It must be important.
- Use this time to deepen your child’s appreciation of your family’s history. Discuss your child’s Hebrew name. For whom is he or she named? What kind of person was this ancestor? What qualities would you as parents hope your child might emulate from your family’s past?
For more enriching ideas see Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah by Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin or Bar/Bat Mitzvah Basics: A Practical Family Guide to Coming of Age Together by Cantor Helen Leneman.
For information concerning Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation,
contact the
Education Director
Rabbi Howard Rosenbaum
(860) 233-9696, ext. 111
hrosenbaum@bethelwh.org
Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a two-year program, designed for those who did not have a bar/bat mitzvah as a child or who want a more meaningful experience the second time around.
The first year includes an intensive study of Hebrew language and an exploration of many important themes in Jewish history, culture, holidays, literature, and practice. In the second year we continue the focus on Hebrew and learn to chant from the Torah and Haftarah as well as to lead services in preparation for the culminating event, the Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah, held on a Shabbat morning with the entire congregation invited.
Classes are every Thursday night (approximately post-High Holidays until June) from 7-9 PM. Groups are formed every other year.
