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Bar & Bat Mitzvahs

B’nai Mitzvah can be a reality for kids with special needs in Israel

Shay Vinitsky began studying privately for his bar mitzvah in spring 2009, a full year before his March 2010 date. But it wasn’t until the next winter, when Shay and his classmates at the Ohn School for the Physically Disabled, a Tel Aviv school for students with cerebral palsy, began to participate in a bar/bat mitzvah project that his excitement truly began to build. Enrolled in the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program for Children With Special Needs, which is run by the Masorti movement, the Conservative movement’s sister in Israel, Shay and his friends spent three months studying the blessings, Shabbat, customs, festivals and performing mitzvot. At the end of the school year, the students participated in a joint bar and bat mitzvah ceremony in a Masorti synagogue accessible to the disabled.\n

Hotels add outdoor adventure, history to Simcha

For Jewish families sick of the sometimes outlandish and spiritually empty MTV-style bar or bat mitzvah celebration, a growing number of Israeli hotels are creating family simcha experiences that accentuate Jewish history and adventure without skimping on the ceremonial aspect of the life-changing event. According to several Israeli hotel industry executives, Jerusalem and the Tiberias-Galilee regions have become bar/bat mitzvah magnets for American Jewish families.

High-flying to low-lying Israel offers a world of B’nai Mitzvah fetes

Have you thought about planning your child’s bar or bat mitzvah in Israel? Are you looking for an out-of-the-box idea that will be memorable and match your child’s personality, interests or hobbies? Jerusalem is a versatile city filled with history, nature, art, culture and fun. Now the hard part begins: What to choose? For the Adventurous Dinner in the Sky Take the bar or bat mitzvah celebration to new heights with Dinner in the Sky (dinnerinthesky.net). A special table can accommodate up to 22 guests and is lifted 150 feet above the ground for a gourmet experience in the sky. Locations include Yafo, with a 360-degree view of Tel Aviv, or Jerusalem, overlooking the Old City.

Ten Commandments for B’nai Mitzvah Parents

The bar/bat mitzvah is an important milestone for both child and family. It can be a sacred, spiritual experience for everyone. For many families, having a child become bar/bat mitzvah is as exciting as it is overwhelming and stressful. This is not just about one’s child coming of age but also about the family entering a new developmental stage.

Rolling Out the Mitzvah

Tyler Hochman may refer to himself as a little kid, but the Beverly Hills eighth-grader has made a big impact with an ambitious bar mitzvah project.

Eishet Mitzvah at Nachshon Minyan

On May 1, the sanctuary of the Baha’i Center in Encino was filled with Jewish families excitedly enjoying an unusual event: a group bat mitzvah for adult women, a study group through which the women had come to feel such a deep commitment to Torah, such a strong sense of personal transformation, that only a formal rite of passage would do.

Embody the Mitzvah Through Manners

Knowing the proper way to conduct oneself will not only help the student feel more confident and relaxed, it will also help put family members and other guests at ease.\n

Secular Judaism keeps next generation in the fold

When Mark Neuman celebrated his bar mitzvah seven years ago at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture in Vancouver, B.C., he didn’t read from Torah, wear a yarmulke or pronounce Hebrew blessings. He gave a talk on the psychology of Jewish humor.

Cyberstalking Akiva and the Kippah Snafu

t’s the day after Yair’s bar mitzvah, the day after the one and only day that’s been on our emotional and organizational calendar for the last few months. For the first time in weeks there isn’t much to do, aside from watching the montage over and over and basking in the unexpectedly intense pride and wonderment of the day before.

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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.