Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Bar/Bat Mitzvah, which symbolizes the taking of Jewish responsibilities, is an important milestone in a Jewish person’s life. At Temple Chaverim, the process of preparing for Bar/Bat Mitzvah begins with learning the basics of Judaism and continues with a specifically designed B’nai Mitzvah program. This program was developed not only to enable our students to learn their Torah and Haftarah portions, but also to perfect their prayer skills as well as to provide an opportunity to develop relationships with our congregation, rabbis and cantor. The cantor oversees the preparation of individual students’ Hebrew assignments, both the prayers and the chanting of the portions. The rabbis teach about the meaning of Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the structure of the worship service, and the meaning of the various portions, and assist each student in preparing his or her Devar Torah, or “speech.”

Each Bar/Bat Mitzvah student is required to attend Religious School, Rabbi’s Class and Bar/Bat Mitzvah lessons with the rabbi, cantor or tutor. A parent’s handbook is distributed at a B’nai Mitzvah Orientation workshop each spring, and the rabbi and cantor teach a family workshop which introduces the meaning of Bar/Bat Mitzvah before the Rabbi’s Class begins. Resources are presented to each student to assist them in creating a wonderful Mitzvah Project (see Mitzvah Manual.)

Prayers and Tropes