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Children become B’nei Mitzvah as part of our congregational Shabbat services on Saturday mornings. Usually, two children become Bar or Bat Mitzvah at the same Shabbat service. Starting in the fall of 2009, when there are more than two children becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah on a Saturday, we will have two consecutive identical services; one at 9:30 a.m., and one at 11:30 a.m., with two children becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah at the early service, and one or two children becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah at the later service. Each child has identical responsibilities for preparation and equivalent roles during the service.
Three calendar years prior to the B’nei Mitzvah year you will receive a letter from the Cantor’s Assistant in the Cantor’s Office requesting you fill out an enclosed form stating your family’s wish that your child become a Bar/Bat Mitzvah at Central Synagogue. Parents will be notified in advance of the deadline for submitting this form.
After the Cantor’s Office has received all the forms, dates will be assigned guided by each student’s birthday. We will do our best to avoid dates that parents indicate will not work for their family. Every endeavor is made to avoid assigning the same date to students attending the same secular school.
Roughly three months later, usually in February of fourth grade, a meeting will take place at which tentatively assigned dates will be handed out in person to each family by the Central Synagogue clergy. At least one parent and the student should attend.
At that time, you will also receive a contract from the Central Synagogue administration asking for payment. It is only after receipt of payment in full that the Bar/Bat Mitzvah date will be reserved and entered into our computer filing system.
Families of students who join the school after fourth grade should request assignment of a date from the Cantor’s office.
In the fall of fourth grade, students are directed to a link on the Central Synagogue website where they can download an MP3 file of the prayers and blessings recorded by the Cantor. You can alternatively request a CD from the Cantor’s office. The CD or audio files include all of the blessings recited by a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and is accompanied by study materials. We encourage every family to spend time every week practicing these blessings until they can be read fluently and confidently.
The Cantor and family educator are available as resources for support in B’nei Mitzvah preparation and use of the home-study CDs or downloads. (To download the blessings from our website, go to http://www.centralsynagogue.org, click on “Worship”, then click on “Multimedia Library”, then click on “Prayers and Blessings” on the left of the screen.)
In religious school, the Torah and Haftarah blessings are reinforced during the students’ Hebrew classes. However, home study and attendance at Shabbat services are critical for learning these blessings.
The religious school schedules and conducts a Shabbat family retreat the winter prior to the B’nei Mitzvah year. At the retreat families and clergy come together to study and celebrate Shabbat. At this time you will also receive the portion of Torah text that the student will be chanting and review the Bar/Bat Mitzvah process.
All B’nei Mitzvah students are expected to complete a mitzvah project consisting of thirteen hours of community service. The details on how to complete this project will be given out in the Spring of the sixth grade year. The projects are expected to be completed before each student’s Bar/ Bat Mitzvah. For more information please contact the education department at extension4032.
Students are encouraged to speak about their mitzvah project in their d’var Torah or to present their experiences during their Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration.
Approximately six to eight months prior to the Bar/Bat Mizvah date, parents and children becoming B’nei Mitzvah in the same two month period will attend a dinner seminar with the Cantor and one of the Rabbis and a representative of the education staff.
The cantor’s office will schedule all tutoring in preparation for becoming Bar/Bat Mitzvah. These sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday afternoons. There is also the option of having your child attend group tutoring sessions on Monday evenings directly following Religious School (this option is best for children with good Hebrew reading skills.)
Weekly meetings with the Central Synagogue tutor and periodic consultations with the Cantor will guide each student along the path to mastering the chanting of Torah and Haftarah portions. Approximately six to seven months prior to the student becoming a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the Cantor’s assistant will contact you to schedule regular weekly 30-minute tutoring sessions with one of the Cantor’s staff. Additional meetings will also be arranged between the student and Cantor Buchdahl: the first, to which the family is encouraged to attend, shortly after the start of the tutoring process. You will always receive confirmation of scheduled dates and times from the Cantor’s office.
Four to six weeks prior to becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, the student will begin private meetings with one of the rabbis. With the rabbi’s guidance, he/she will practice reading fro the Torah scroll, study his/her Torah portion and develop a d’var Torah (brief sermon). The d’var Torah is an exposition of the Torah portion as it applies to the life of the student and as the student would choose to teach it to the congregation. Thus, it is not an opportunity for personal ‘thank you’s. There will then be two rehearsals in the main sanctuary. These appointments are scheduled by the rabbis’ assistants. Parents must attend the final rehearsal, which generally occurs the week immediately prior to a child’s becoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah. During this last session with the family, the names of those participating on Friday evening and in the Aliyot on Saturday will be confirmed.
When a child requires tutoring as a supplement to religious school, generally for additional Hebrew tutoring, the education office will recommend a tutor – often the child’s own classroom teacher. The tutor will regularly report to the education office and the classroom teachers on the progress of the student.
If a family employs a tutor who has not been recommended by the school, we ask that you please have the tutor coordinate with the school office on matters of curriculum and ongoing assessment.
Our goal is to provide an educational program in which students only require outside tutoring under unusual circumstances (such as an extended absence from school), and for the duration of the tutoring to be short-term.
When a child requires tutoring as a supplement to B’nei Mitzvah preparation the Cantor’s office can recommend a private tutor. We ask that you let the Cantor’s office know the name of (and contact information for) your child’s tutor, so that Cantor Buchdahl can periodically assess the progress of your child.
In these cases, fees for (and location of) extra-curricular tutoring will be negotiated directly between the family and the tutor. Central Synagogue does not provide a space for private tutoring.
It is Central Synagogue’s tradition that families help each other by ushering at the Shabbat service prior to their own. By doing so we share the delight in the Sabbath and help one another celebrate the occasion. We greet and welcome members of the congregation and visitors who have come to worship. Your date for ushering will be assigned by the Shamashim Corps, Central Synagogue’s group of congregants trained in welcoming guests. If the assigned date is not convenient, they will be able to change it if you let them know at least two weeks before that service. Please note that ushering begins one half our before services, and lasts through the conclusion of the service.
