Bar/Bat Mitzvah Curriculum  

I.  The Purpose and Meaning of Becoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah:  What is Bar/Bat Mitzvah? Why do we have this ritual?  What does it mean to be a Jew?  What is God?  We study these issues and help students find their own answers.
Texts: Crossing The River: Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the Journey Toward Jewish Adulthood by Rabbi Burt Jacobson.

II.  The Responsibilities of Jewish Adulthood:  A study of the moral and religious responsibilities of modern Jews.  Students are encouraged to experiment with mitzvot, to see first-hand what Jewish living is all about.
Text: Crossing The River: Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the Journey Toward Jewish Adulthood by Rabbi Burt Jacobson.

III.  Spirituality/Holiness:  Using teachings written from the Jewish mystical perspective, and experiential activities, students explore how God or Mystery acts in the world and in their own lives.  
Text:  The Book of Miracles by Lawrence Kushner.

IV.  Torah/Bible:  A comprehensive review of Torah emphasizing stories as a way to guide students toward greater self-understanding and moral sensitivity. Using a primary English translation of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), students will learn specific texts. They will become part of the Jewish tradition of wrestling with these stories as they add their own interpretations and understandings.
Texts:  JPS Tanakh, Tree of Life by Sandra Razieli and Alaiya Aguilar.
Alternate Text:  A Topical Bible: Biblical Answers to Modern Day Questions by Naomi Pasachoff.

V.  Different Forms of Jewish Identity:  What are the differences between secular and religious Jews?  Liberal and traditional Jews?  Students begin to recognize their own views of Jewish identity and appreciate diverse approaches as valid.  
Texts: Crossing The River: Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the Journey Toward Jewish Adulthood by Rabbi Burt Jacobson.

VI.  Jewish Holidays:  Studied throughout the year as they arise.  The focus is on their meaning in the past, and relevance to and significance for people today with discussion of how they may be observed by the student and family members.
Text:  Crossing The River:  Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the Journey Toward Jewish Adulthood By Rabbi Burt Jacobson.

VII.  Hebrew/Liturgy:  Students will learn prayers and blessings.  They will also learn some biblical Hebrew to help them understand their Torah portion.  Learning trope, or cantillation, is not included in the cost of the program.
Texts:  Various

Please note: Students are expected to have basic Hebrew reading abilities upon entering the program.  This means that they can recognize all letters and are able to sound out words.  If this is not the case, outside tutoring will be required. It is highly recommended to do the tutoring before the dyad lessons begin.

VIII.  Speech Writing and Oral Presentation:  Students will learn how to write and present their own thoughts and ideas about the material they have studied.  At their ceremony, they will present a drash, which is an interpretive teaching of their portion, and a covenant in which they discuss the impact of Judaism and their studies on their personal life.  The maximum length of a drash is 1200 words.  Maximum words for a covenant is 1000.

IX.  The Shabbat Morning Bar/Bat Mitzvah Service:  This includes songs, Shabbat prayers, blessings for the Torah, the Torah portion and the drash/Torah interpretation.
Texts/Materials:  Kehilla Shabbat Morning Siddur and CD of songs and prayers.  

Learning to chant the Torah and/or Haftarah is optional and requires additional tutoring at an extra cost.  A list of teachers is on the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Faculty page at the end of this handbook, or you may choose your own.

X.  Remember Us:  The Holocaust B’nai Mitzvah Project:  This project invites children who are preparing for Bar/Bat Mitzvah to connect with memories of children who were lost in the Holocaust before they could be called to the Torah.  It is optional and should be discussed with the teacher and service leader.

The Mitzvah Experimentation Component

One of the important facets of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah year is Mitzvah Experimentation. This gives the student the opportunity to experiment with the mitzvot, defined as the moral and religious responsibilities of Jewish life. In this way a young person “tries out” what it is like living one's life following Jewish practices.

During the course of the 26 dyad lessons, students choose six mitzvot on which to focus.  These mitzvot include at least one that has to do with becoming a more knowledgeable Jew, at least one that has to do with taking better care of oneself, and at least one that has to do with practicing Jewish rituals.  One of the student’s mitzvah projects should be dedicated to tikkun olam work that includes at least 6 hours of community service.  Students will choose each project from a list of choices.  They will discuss their choice with their teacher. Once approved, students carry out the chosen mitzvah, usually for at least two weeks.  They record their experience in a journal, write a report, and present it in class.

Though many of the mitzvot can be carried out by the student on their own, some may require parental and family involvement.  For instance, if a child decides that she or he wishes to experiment with Shabbat or Kashrut (the Dietary Laws), it is only fair that this be discussed with her/his parents, since this experiment will affect the life of the family.  We hope that parents and other family members will want to support their child if he or she wishes to carry out such an experiment.  Of course, if parents do not wish to do this, the teachers in the program will honor this choice and try to find a way to support the student’s experiment without it being an undue burden for the family.