Bar and Bat Mitzvah

Overview

At Rodef Sholom we see the B’nai Mitzvah service as one important and moving step in the process of a family’s commitment to life-long learning and connecting to the Jewish community. It is an especially meaningful time as it marks a culmination of the hard efforts by all parents in bringing up a child within the Jewish community. We recognize that all parents who have committed their child to Jewish learning play a significant role.
 
We therefore honor all parents alongside their children for bringing their children into our Jewish community.  In keeping with this recognition, all parents and grandparents are encouraged to participate in our b’nai mitzvah service. All are welcome to help in the passing of the Torah to the child (the part of the service where the Torah scroll is physically passed from one generation to another). All parents are called to the bimah (the raised platform from where the service is conducted) to give a personal blessing to their children. Finally, before their child reads Torah, Jewish parents are asked to sing the traditional Hebrew Torah blessing, and non-Jewish parents are asked to read a blessing in English.
 
We recognize that all families are different, with different needs. This is why there is an extensive preparatory process before each bar or bat mitzvah that includes the entire family and multiple meetings with clergy members. Our goal is to create a ceremony that honors our families and the entire community. If you have questions regarding the b’nai mitzvah program or services at Rodef Sholom, please do not hesitate to call. Even if your family’s b’nai mitzvah service is years away, we believe all parental involvement, education and participation has the power to shape not only the ceremony on the day of the bar or bat mitzvah, but also in the Jewish experiences in the years that precede and follow it.

Torah Blessings - click to hear