The ceremonies of bar/bat mitzvah and confirmation are important, meaningful occasions in the lives of Jewish young people and their families, as well as in the life of the synagogue community. Though they are both milestones in Jewish education, bar/bat mitzvah and confirmation are quite different.
We hope that every child in our Religious School will want to celebrate becoming bar/bat mitzvah and that, three years later, our confirmation class will be as large as the bar/bat mitzvah group. Our hope is that our Religious School program will start our young people on a path of life–long Torah study.
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Bar/bat mitzvah marks a child’s 13th birthday. A bar/bat mitzvah ceremony – which can be held at any time from age 13 to adulthood – celebrates an individual’s being called to the Torah for the first time, and affords the bar/bat mitzvah the opportunity to lead a Shabbat morning service. The term means “son” (bar) or “daughter“ (bat) of God's Commandments, and the service traditionally signifies that a young person accepts the responsibility, as a member of our religious community, for keeping those commandments. At Congregation Bet Ha’am, we strive to make the bar/bat mitzvah experience as personally meaningful as possible, with no differences between the ritual for boys and girls. Each young person typically reads a portion of the Torah, the traditional hand lettered scroll of the Five Books of Moses, the most sacred of Jewish texts. A second reading from the Book of Prophets or Writings, called the Haftarah, is thematically related to the Torah portion. The extent of participation in the service varies as needed to meet the challenges of individuals, and any young person can celebrate becoming a bar or bat mitzvah at Bet Ha’am. Adult b’nai mitzvah ceremonies have also become a regular occurrence, with some adults choosing to lead the service individually and others opting to participate in a group ceremony.
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Many people are surprised to find out that "becoming bar/bat mitzvah" happens automatically when a Jewish boy reaches the age of 13 and for a girl age 12. The ceremony that today occupies center stage is actually a historical afterthought, with evidence of observance only from sometime between the 14th and 16th centuries. Because the ceremony marks reaching the age of majority, many traditional Jews observe it on the Sabbath immediately following the child's birthday. more
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Navigating the Bible (The online Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor) Torah and Haftorah portions and blessings, all with or without audio. Also includes history, maps, biographies, etc.
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Confirmation, celebrated by the 10th grade class as a group, is a ceremony in which the teenagers affirm their commitment to the Jewish people. Confirmation is held on Shavuot, the spring festival seven weeks after Passover that commemorates the time when the Jewish people received the Torah at Mount Sinai. It marks the symbolic beginning of a mature, self–motivated approach to Judaism and to involvement in the Jewish community. First developed by the Reform movement, confirmation has been adopted today by all branches of Judaism. Confirmation students at Bet Ha’am have special classes with the Rabbi, and they create and lead the Shavuot worship service. During their confirmation studies, the 10th graders concentrate on Jewish ethics and values, Jewish identity and Jewish religious concepts, giving them the tools to develop an involved Jewish lifestyle as they approach college. Many students look back on their confirmation years as both the most challenging and the most worthwhile of their Jewish education.
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Do you want to celebrate your simcha - bar/bat mitzvah, birthday or anniversary – by hosting an Oneg Shabbat? Contact the office to schedule a date. Click here for details.
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