Do you have a Jewish child who is 11 or 12 years old? It's time to start getting ready for their b'mitzvah.
Bar mitzvah is Aramaic for "son of commandment". Bat mitzvah means "daughter of commandment". The modern term b'mitzvah (pronounced ba-mitzvah) means "in the commandment" and is used as a gender neutral term for both or for the coming of age of a non-binary young person.
This class is designed specifically for pre-b'mitzvah students living in rural areas. Away from big cities, our Jewish communities are smaller and may not meet as often. Some of our communities don't have a Hebrew school at all. Other communities have a Sunday school, but less opportunity to learn about Jewish tradition beyond the most basic concepts.
We spend a full year learning together, supplemented by one-on-one tutoring.
- We learn how to read Hebrew, and we learn what we are reading.
- We learn prayers together, and discuss what religious "practice" means for different people in different contexts.
- We follow the Hebrew calendar, getting a deeper understanding of the holidays and the history behind them.
- Students partner up to practice their own Torah and Haftara portions, deepening their learning by serving as gabbais for each other.
- Most important of all, the students learn the very Jewish process of wrestling with our tradition as they discuss each topic amongst themselves with gentle guidance from their instructor.
We learn Torah and Haftara trope, and explore how the musical notation provides another layer for understanding the text we read.
The next full year of B'Mitzvah prep classes includes group classes from September 8 through June 22 (5 Elul - 26 Sivan). In addition to the group lessons, this package includes:
- 10 one-on-one tutoring sessions that can be used either during the school year, or up to a year after the last day of class.
- Students and parents have access to a learning portal with
- information about everything they are learning in class
- homework assignments
- a checklist of things that need to be completed before their big day.
- During the summer, there are additional optional workshops for both parents and b'mitzvah kids.
- Students in group lessons can also get additional one-on-one tutoring for just $35/hr.
Each class is 90 minutes long and runs from 10-11:30am Pacific Time. There is no class on Jewish holidays, Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day, or during Sukkot, Passover, or during the week before or after the Gregorian New Year. The full calendar of classes will be available August 1, 2024. The total cost for the year is $1200, payable in 10 payments.
Before the first day of class, there is one required meeting between at least one parent and the instructor. This meeting helps me to best help your student and your family to prepare for the celebration. If you have a local synagogue where you plan to celebrate, we will need to check in with the leadership to make sure that we are fulfilling all the requirements set by your community for the b'mitzvah. If you do not have a plan for where to hold the b'mitzvah, we can discuss various options. This meeting will also give me an opportunity to hear about your wishes for your child's Jewish learning and your concerns about the process. If you'd like to have this call before committing to the class, please book an appointment with me. I look forward to chatting with you!