Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Mazel Tov on choosing to become a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. This is an important and exciting time. For more information about training and scheduling, please contact the Temple office at 561.747.1109.  Thank you for sharing this simcha (happy occasion) with Temple Beth Am.

What is a Bar/Bat Mitzvah?

The terms Bar and Bat Mitzvah literally mean son and daughter of the commandment. Children do not have a bar/bat mitzvah; they become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Completion of this ceremony means accepting responsibility. Jewish children who choose to celebrate becoming B’nei Mitzvah are announcing their choice to assume responsibility for living a life of meaning with ethical and spiritual purpose.

Celebration of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah is not the experience of a lifetime, rather it is the beginning of a lifetime of adult Jewish experiences. A person is not measured by what he or she does on the bima, but in the days and years that follow the ritual. Becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah should begin a lifetime of Jewish growth and learning.

Our Mission in the B'nei Mitzvah Process

To create an ongoing sense of community at Temple Beth Am for students and their families so that they can develop a deep and lasting connection with the synagogue, the staff, and the Jewish people, while discovering and building their own Jewish identities.

An important component of the B’nei Mitzvah journey is the connection with our students’ families and community. Through the experience of our program, our students will have time to reflect what it means to become a Jewish adult with their families, clergy, teachers, and peers as their guides. In the process of becoming bar/bat mitzvah it is our hope that our students and their families will fall in love with Judaism and Jewish tradition.

Reading from the Torah

The Torah is the center of Judaism. Everything we do as Jews, everything we believe and value revolves around the Torah. In whatever way we personally understand the Torah--whether as divine revelation, a human text about striving for God, or a combination of the two--it is a text that has been embraced with the highest sanctity by the Jewish people. This is why the first mitzvah we expect our children to fulfill as B’nei Mitzvah is to read publicly from the Torah.

For more information on the becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah at Temple Beth Am, check out our resources below:

B'nei Mitzvah Clergy Team

B'nei Mitzvah FAQ

B'nei Mitzvah Guidelines

B'nei Mitavah Online Prayers  (Hebrew, transliteration, and audio)

B'nei Mitzvah Prayer Checklist