Bnai Mitzvah

Our 13 Step Bnai Mitzvah programme carefully guides students through conquering a challenge in which they are the central actor, their first steps into adolescence and eventually adulthood. In addition to learning about Humanistic Judaism in a personal way, students build confidence and pride in their own beliefs and values; they are able to speak with confidence on a topic of their own choosing.

Why do our programme?
Our programme is designed to help the bnai mitzvah explore themselves and their values in the process of planning a ceremony that is meaningful to them and their family.
Since this process is designed to help them make the ceremony a form of their self-expression, the students can decide what they want to do on their big day, be it to tell a story from family history, play an instrument, perform a speech of a historical figure, or something else that shows who they are, and what family members and friends they wish to be a part of their service. This offers them a chance to incorporate the values that are important to them, and to make the process meaningful to them as individuals.

COURSE AND STUDENT OBJECTIVES
Students will learn to:

Contribute time and effort to a community service project identified as meaningful to the students’ studies. 

B’Mitzvah students will hopefully emerge from the process with strong critical-thinking skills, laying the groundwork for intellectual inquiry for the rest of their lives. It can provide these young people with a deep connection to their heritage, and their families with a deeply moving, original, unforgettable coming-of-age ceremony.
B’Mitzvah students will hopefully emerge from the process with strong critical-thinking skills, laying the groundwork for intellectual inquiry for the rest of their lives. It can provide these young people with a deep connection to their heritage, and their families with a deeply moving, original, unforgettable ceremony.

1. Demonstrate knowledge of Jewish holidays, major events in Jewish history, and terms such as Judaism and humanism.
2. Identify a topic from Jewish and humanist studies that interests them for in-depth study. 

3. Research a variety of perspectives on that topic, identifying reliable sources of information.
4. Use critical thinking tools to make effective arguments from the information they have gathered.
5. Frame the B’Mitzvah presentation, outlining purpose and main points.
6. Write a presentation from that outline, using language to express
7. their perspectives and to present clear evidence from reliable sources. 

8. Build speaking skills that demonstrate vocal clarity, appropriate volume, and personal connection to the subject matter and to the audience. 

9. Practice to present at the B’Mitzvah ceremony an articulate talk about their topic as well as their perspectives on Jewish identity.
10. Contribute time and effort to a community service project identified as meaningful to the students’ studies.

Through this preparation no one will tell the student what to believe, only “this is what many modern Jews now believe.” Humanistic Judaism encourages people to think rationally about Jewish beliefs and practices, to experience elements of Jewish life, to gather new facts, to question, and to be open to developing their own perspectives over the course of their lives. The program emphasises the intersection of Humanism and Judaism , but is not limited to it, and students are encouraged to learn about Reconstructionist Jewish thinking as well as to explore the history of Britain’s two progressive movements, Liberal and Reform Judaism, as well as learning about Orthodox Judaism, Sephardic as well as Ashkenazi.

The programme is flexible but usually follows this order:

• Session 1 Learning about family values and identifying my values (Step 1)
• Session 2 Exploring what it means to be Jewish and a humanist/cultural/secular Jew (Step 2)
• Session 3 Learning about Jewish history (Step 3)
• Session 4 Learning about British Jewish history (Step 3)
• Session 5 Learning about Jewish holidays (Step 4)
• Session 6 Learning about life cycle celebrations (Step 5)
• Session 7 Examining the history of bar and bat mitzvah (Step 6)
• Session 8 Reading Jewish literature (Step 8)
• Session 9 Learning about Jewish languages (Step 9)
• Session 10 Developing the presentation (Step 11)
• Session 11 Preparing the B’Mitzvah Service (Step 12)
• Session 12 Practicing the presentation (Step 12)

Experiencing Jewish heritage (Step 7) will be accomplished under the guidance of parents. Community Service (Step 10) will be fulfilled outside of the class sessions. Developing the presentation (Step 11), Preparing the Service and Practicing the presentation (Step 12) will include time outside of tutoring sessions. Completing a portfolio/journal as part of the presentation for Step 12 is mandatory homework as the student is completing each of the first nine steps.

Family Responsibilities
Families are responsible for supporting their children, as needed, to prepare for their tutoring sessions, finding a Hebrew tutor if needed for reading/chanting a Torah portion, booking the facility, hiring or choosing musician/s to play, sing, and lead the music, if desired, printing the ceremony programme.