Becoming a Bar Mitzvah at Temple Beth Sholom is much more than just one day in the life of a young person.  We take our commitment to Jewish Education and our time honored traditions very seriously.  At the same time we make sure that all our B'nei Mitzvah have a wonderful experience during the time they spend in preparation.

 

We strive to make sure that every family goes through the Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation time together.  For example, one year before, families begin meeting with the Rabbi once a month to study Torah together.  This creates a unique bond between our congregation, The Bar/Bat Mitzvah family and The Study of Torah.  We transform the Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience from a one day event to a journey that begins with the whole family together.

 

Our B'nei Mitzvah are taught the service (prayers) by our Musical Director, D.J. Sinai.  They are also tutored in Trope, Torah Reading skills and blessings by our Ba'al Korei, Adam Brustein on a regular basis. Rabbi Goodman is available to meet with the B'nei Mitzvah and study as a family - the meaning behind their Torah portion. Rabbi Hodson works with each B'nei Mitzvah on the mitzvah projects.

 

All children are different and learn in different ways.  We firmly believe in individualized instruction and tutoring.  Understanding each child individualy is essential be able to motivate our young B'nei Mitzvah to understand the importance of their preparation to start the Journey into Judaism as members of our community.

 

A very important part of our B'nei Mitzvah program is to retain our youth so that it remains engaged in synagogue life.  We accomplish this by involving those who have already become B'nei Mitzvah in reading Torah regularly during services.  We have a wonderful USY Chapter that also engages our youth after they become B'nei Mitzvah.

 

In the past five years we have had a retention rate of 80%.  Most youngsters return constantly to read Torah on Shabbat.  This is something that as a congregation makes us feel extremely proud!