Your Bar Mitzvah Discovery Course Checklist:
Please complete the following:
A. Attend all classes.
B. Attend Shabbat morning services 10 times.
C. Purchase a pair of Teffilin (and Talit, optional).
D. Choose a Chesed Project; e.g., visit an old age home, visit someone in the hospital, bring food to a shelter, volunteer for a Jewish organization, etc.
Chesed Project___________________________________
E. Choose a mitzvah in honor of your Bar mitzvah; e.g., kosher, teffilin, making blessings before eating, etc.
Mitzvah ________________________________________
F. Submit a 200 word essay on one of the Jewish Leaders that was covered in the course.
The Discovery Course:
Welcome to the Bar Mitzvah Discovery Course. This course runs every Sunday from September - May. Classes are from 9:30am - 12:00 pm and are led by Rabbi Mendy and Mrs. Shternie Deitsch
The boys study and research many important and fascinating aspects of Judaism and the vital role they play in it. In addition the course will prepare them for parts of their actual Bar Mitzvah ceremony.
The Bar Mitzvah Discovery Course includes the following:
1. The Meaning Of Bar Mitzvah - A deep appreciation and understanding of this transformational life cycle event. (3 Units)
2. Ani Ma’Amin - The 13 Principles of Faith - An in depth study of the13 principles of Faith authored by Rabbi Moses Maimonides. These principles are the fundamentals that define our faith. (13 Units)
3. Torah, Haftorah and Blessings - An overview of the origins, traditions and customs connected with the reading of the Torah and Haftorah. The boys will learn the blessings before and after the reading of the Torah and Haftorah, their meaning as well as how they are chanted in Hebrew. (15 Units)
4. Jewish Leaders In History - A comprehensive study of the role of Jewish leaders throughout history with relevant lessons for life in the 21st century. (Each boy will choose a Jewish leader to prepare an essay on for his Bar Mitzvah). (3 Units)
5. Special Mitzvot Connected with Bar Mitzvah - Understand the meaning and traditions connected with the Talit and Teffilin. Learn how they are made, why we wear them, what makes them Kosher. How to put them on and care for them. This unit also includes hands-on learning experience of the following Mitzvot: Shabbat, Jewish home and Family Life (e.g. Kashrut, Mezuzah and Peace In The Home), Tzedakah. (Each boy will choose one or more of the above Mitzvot to be his Mitzvah project for his Bar Mitzvah).(15 Units)
6. Ahavat Yisroel - Love For A Fellow Jew - This unit will focus on and develop a sense of responsibility for the people around us and especially for our Jewish brothers and sisters and for the land of Israel. (Each boy will choose a Chesed project for his Bar Mitzvah). (3 Units)
We will provide a special binder in which will be recorded all the above mentioned studies and accomplishments as they are fulfilled. In addition a certificate will be issued upon completion of the course.
