Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program

A Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a simcha which we look forward to for years, but which comes and goes too quickly. Your celebrations should be a special time for you and your family.

During their training, your children are taught the importance and significance of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah and their Torah portion. Throughout the religious school years, your child is prepared for, and given a robust foundation in, “Jewish citizenship”.  Now your child is mature enough to grasp the deeper, more meaningful significance of Judaism, our history, practices and concepts. It is our desire that your child’s first act of participation, the Bar/Bat Mitzvah, truly becomes the first of many. We urge you to accompany your son/daughter on this “Journey into Jewishness”; to both lead them and guide them.

It is vital that both the Bar/Bat Mitzvah and their family become familiar with the Shabbat ritual and order of services to have the highest degree of participation and to elevate its religious and spiritual meaning and purpose.   The students are encouraged to go up to the bima as often as possible to familiarize themselves with the service prayers, blessings and rituals. Only through such regular attendance can the students and their parents achieve a reasonable degree of reading fluency in the prayer book, knowledge of the geography of the prayer book and the order of the Shabbat services.    We strongly urge you and your family to attend Friday night and Saturday morning services as often as possible.  Attendance will afford your child opportunities to practice leading the prayers in front of a small group and to learn prayers which they may not be familiar with. The ceremony will have more meaning only when the parents and child view this as something more than a ritual. It is the continuity of rather than an end to learning.  

The religious leadership, religious school administration, staff and congregation extend our good wishes to you and your family and are available to assist you in planning your child’s special day.

Sincerely,
PJC Mitzvah Committee