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Bar & Bat Mitzvahs

The last Bar Mitzvah

The following is a random sampling from my e-mail inbox: From synagogue: Did you receive the form for the Oneg Shabbat luncheon, which will follow Jake’s bar mitzvah? We sent the original in May. Please return it with your check as soon as possible.

Mix of high-tech and human helps students learn Torah [VIDEO]

Indeed, bar or bat mitzvah training today has become increasingly reliant on technology to complement learning — from YouTube videos of kids chanting and online lessons with a cantor or tutor to on-the-go studies with an iPod.

A powerful way to make a point

With apologies to Monty Python, the day can best be described as, “And Now for Something Completely Different.” The guests started filing in, anticipating the usual bar mitzvah service at our cozy little temple — maybe the only one named for a city that carries the name of a saint: The Santa Monica Synagogue. Temple members, as well as family and friends who attended our other children’s b’nai mitzvahs, knew what to expect when they arrived. They’d find a physically small but big-of-heart place featuring an amiable guitar-strumming young cantor, Steve Hummel, and a rabbi, Jeffrey Marx, who is as good at telling shtetl stories as Sholom Aleichem.

Medical incidents inspire two teens to support pediatric care

Ryan Gurman and Brandon Newberg, both 13, have never met. They live in different parts of Los Angeles, go to different schools, attend different synagogues and celebrated their bar mitzvahs almost a year apart. Yet over the past few months, the young men have shared a common purpose: helping sick and injured children at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Bat mitzvah gone wild

When I walked into an on-call catering job a couple of months ago, I was genuinely thrilled to discover that we would be serving food for a bat mitzvah party. Since I had never had a bat mitzvah — let alone attended one — it seemed like a fun opportunity to create some memories around an event that everyone else seems to remember so fondly from their youth. I pictured a beautiful, ceremonial transition into adulthood for this little girl. I had no idea just how “adult” these little ladies and gentlemen were truly about to become.

Duo celebrating bar mitzvah of counting Jewish athletes

Down in Texas, the Rangers have an All-Star second baseman who has added flavor and flair to the 2010 season, helping propel his team to the World Series for the first time in its history. And with a name like Ian Kinsler, he might just be … Well, there’s no Star of David-shaped asterisk next to Kinsler’s name in the media guide or program. On the field he wears a cap, not a kipah. So how can you know for sure?

Wrap yourself in tallitot, the colors of the rainbow

As tallit maker Shoshana Enosh watched a first-time customer sift tentatively through her wares, she got that feeling she can never explain. “Why don’t you try this one?” Enosh suggested, knowing which tallit to pull from the rack. The woman nervously wrapped the prayer shawl around her stooped shoulders. Enosh said she began to cry as she watched the transformation.

The Ten Commandments for B’nai Mitzvah students

If you are 12 now, you’ve probably been hearing talk of your bar or bat mitzvah for years. Perhaps you’ve attended the bar and bat mitzvahs of friends or cousins. Perhaps you are the first of your friends to become a bar or bat mitzvah. Maybe you’ve attended a service and thought: How am I ever going to be able to learn all of that? Or perhaps you’ve already begun studying, and so far it’s felt pretty effortless. (Or perhaps you are a parent of a soon-to-be bar or bat mitzvah.) What follows are my Ten Commandments for bar and bat mitzvah students. Some I’ve learned during my years of teaching and preparing students for the “big day.” Some come from former students who’ve recently gone through the process and for whom the experience is very recent. Remember, if you are having concerns, you’re probably not alone. In any case, while there are no guarantees in life, following these commandments is likely to serve you well and help you to feel prepared, confident, proud and a little less anxious.

Coping with anxiety on the big day

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, is one of the most commonly reported social fears. Add to it the raging hormones of 13-year-olds and the insecurities fueled by pressure to do a good job (or at least not to humiliate themselves in front of family and peers) and you could have a full-blown case of stage fright on your hands. While most tweens might have spoken in front of a class of 30 peers, which in and of itself is a big deal, on the day of their bar or bat mitzvah they could be chanting and speaking in front of 60, 100 or even 500 people.

Rev up for a high-octane ‘Car Mitzvah’ party

Ben Shane loves cars. When he was a baby, his mother said, he slept with two Hot Wheels cars instead of a blanket. Now 13, he excels at auto-themed video games, attends monster truck shows, watches NASCAR races on TV and collects model cars. In his bedroom, motorcycles adorn his bedding. His nightstand is an old racing tire topped with Plexiglas. His clock is a tire with an embedded timepiece. When it came time to plan Shane’s bar mitzvah celebration, there really was only one theme to consider.

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.