Bar and Bat Mitzvah overview:  

A Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a life cycle event which involves the entire family.  A young person begins preparing for this event as soon as he/she begins to attend religious school and Shabbat services.  Attendance and participation in the Shabbat service encourages a comfort level which is invaluable once official preparations begin.

 

Bar/Bat Mitzvah dates are assigned approximately three years in advance.  We solicit input from families before assigning dates, so there is ample opportunity for consideration of family issues, learning differences, and other concerns.  Dates can be changed, if necessary, within the parameters of availability.

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Bar/Bat Mitzvah training takes place during the ten to twelve months preceding the date of the service.  Lessons are individual, once a week, with one of our Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutors.  Our priority is ensuring that each student is comfortable with the material that is prepared: we have requirements of quality, not quantity.  The Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutors, Rabbis, and Education Director work together to determine which parts of the service are appropriate for each student to prepare.  The Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony, usually part of the Congregation’s regular Shabbat service, invites each young person to participate in a way that demonstrates his or her skills and abilities to function as an adult member of the Jewish community.  By conducting part of that service, leading the congregation, reciting the traditional Bar/Bat Mitzvah blessings, and reading from the Torah and Haftarah, a Jewish young adult demonstrates his/her connection with community, family, friends, Jewish tradition and God.

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See the important links below to start your Bar/Bat Mitzvah Journey:

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We also ask that you please complete the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Information Sheets and return it to us AT LEAST 3 months prior to your event.  

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To download the form for listing and assignment of rituals and honors during the Bar/Bat at Mitzvah (for a Shabbat morning service), please click here.

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To download the form for listing and assignment of rituals and honors during the Bar/Bat Mitzvah (for a Shabbat mincha service), please click here.

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For more information about the preparation and details of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah, please refer to our B’nai Mitzvah handbook

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For more information please click here to get your Bar/Bat Mitzvah journey started.

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