B’nai Mitzvah Program

LeDor VaDor (From Generation to Generation) Family Education

Bar and Bat Mitzvah is an event around one person coming of age, but it is also an important crossing in the life of the entire family.  With the right learning and connection, every person in the family of a Bar Mitzvah student can find tremendous meaning in the process as well as the event itself.

This program is for those Or Shalom families who are in the year of preparation prior to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony (usually  7th grade).  LeDor VaDor creates a mini-community within our community for sharing knowledge, resources and support around the Bar/Bat Mitzvah.  We meet every month to learn and to share, exploring community service, interfaith issues, Jewish values and practices, and life after B’nai Mitzvah.   

Tutoring for Bar and Bat Mitzvah

Or Shalom’s B’nai Mitzvah Program is unique and strives to make the process meaningful and personal for the student. Students work one-on-one with a tutor from Or Shalom on a weekly basis for approximately one year in preparation for the ceremony in addition to attending Hebrew school or Jewish day school. The Education Director assigns a tutor for your child and tutorial fees are paid directly to the tutor.  

Our tutoring approach is individualized, universal, and inclusive.  Our program helps your child to:

• Develop and foster a positive relationship with the Jewish tradition and the process of becoming a Bar or Bat mitzvah
• Learn Hebrew prayers and blessings
• Learn a section of Torah and create a teaching about it in his/her own words, connecting the ancient text to contemporary issues
• Learn to chant a number of verses of Torah in Hebrew from the scroll

Monthly Mitzvah Program

This program engages the 7th grade class in Tikkun Olam (Repairing of the World) during the B’nai Mitzvah year.  These monthly gatherings bring the students together around community service projects with the aim of instilling the value of community service as a lifelong practice.