Home  >  Overview
""

Upcoming Events

more

Bar/t Mitzvah Overview

"Bar/t" Mitzvah is how we at Etz Chayim refer to a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah; literally a "Son" or "Daughter" of the Commandments. That is, a Jewish adult who is now responsible for their own doing of mitzvot, and who now can function in all Jewish rituals as an adult, including “counting” towards a minyan. Bar/t Mitzvah is automatic at age 13 – no ceremony is necessary!

Because we want the Bar/t Mitzvah to be a particularly meaningful experience, we require our students to spend at least four years in Religious School or Jewish Day school prior to beginning the Bar/t Mitzvah program. One of the strengths of our program is that religious school familes and day school familes study together and get to know each other.
 
At the beginning of seventh grade, parents and children attend a 9-session family class to prepare for their Bar/t Mitzvah. During the year, we provide drop-in tutoring sessions for students wanting extra help with prayer and/or trope skills. We also connect families with individual tutors to help the students learn to chant their Torah and Haftarah portions. Children spend individual time with the Rabbi preparing a D’var Torah, an analysis of their Torah portion. The Rabbi and the school ensure that all children, regardless of skill level, shine on their special day.
 
At Congregation Etz Chayim, the Bar/t Mitzvah is part of our regular Shabbat morning service. We say that the service invites the Bar/t Mitzvah, not the other way around! The Bar/t Mitzvah service has the same structure, uses the same prayer book, and meets in the synagogue, just as any other regularly scheduled service. However, there are many opportunities to customize the regular service through the student's choice of alternative readings and melodies, as well as which parts of the traditional Torah portion to read (and whether to chant some of it in English), and which Haftarah to use when there are traditional options.
 
Skills : Some of the skills and information we cover include the following:
  • How to find your way around a Torah, TaNaKh, and Tikkun – and what those are!
  • How to lift, hold, and pass a Torah
  • The choreography of the service – when to stand, bow, move…
  • How to do an aliyah
  • How the "Hebrew Bible" differs from the "Old Testament" 
Inspiration: You will have the opportunity as a family and in groups of families for
  • text study
  • for discussions
  • for asking questions and wrestling with ideas on topics of particular relevance for this year  
  • Torah study focused on your child’s portion
  • teaching tzedakah as a value, as a decision-making process, and as a set of well-rehearsed actions
  • exploration of family and communal Jewish values.
The bottom line is that  families learn by doing in the Bar/t Mitzvah program. The time that familes spend in the Bar/t Mitzvah program at Etz Chayim is extremely rewarding and fun because of the shared experience for study during the class, at services, in the kitchen, at the onegs and at other celebrations.
 
  • ""