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As part of becoming a B’nai Mitzvah at Wise, we ask all children to:

  • Lead a prayer service. Each B’nai Mitzvah has the opportunity to lead a prayer service. Through their preparations, children begin to learn what it can mean to pray, as well as what it means to be responsible for leading others in prayer.
  • Study and teach Torah. Each B’nai Mitzvah also presents a D’var Torah, a teaching of Torah, that they prepare with the help of the officiating clergy after studying the parashah (Torah portion) assigned to the date of the B’nai Mitzvah service. The D’var Torah offers students an opportunity to express their understanding of our tradition creatively. Though many students choose to deliver their message through a traditional speech, students have the freedom to teach their Torah through a variety of mediums, including art, music, and dance. Students begin to prepare their D’var Torah in coordination with their officiating clergy by reading their parashah following their first clergy meeting, one year before their service. They then begin crafting their presentation in coordination with their clergy approximately 3-4 months prior to their service.
  • Engage in and teach about a meaningful act of tikkun olam, repair of the world. Through the development of a personal Tikkun Olam Project, a child prepares to become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah by actively making the betterment of our world an important and integrated part of their life. We ask each child to commit to 15-20 hours for their Tikkun Olam Project so that they can create a meaningful connection to the work they are doing and are able to express the connection between their contributions to the world and their Jewish lives.
  • Actively participate in a Jewish community. We ask all our B’nai Mitzvah to enroll in a full-time or supplementary Jewish educational program, such as Wise School or any of our Center for Youth Engagement programs, no later than Grade 4, in order to closely examine what it means to participate in Jewish community, draw lessons in Jewish community, and contribute to a Jewish community through thought, speech, and action. Once children reach Grade 7, all students enroll in one of our teen programs, which pairs students with tutors for increased preparation and connects them with our rabbis, cantors, and teachers to explore what Judaism has to say about topics of their choice.

In order to prepare students for these responsibilities, Stephen Wise Temple offers a variety of learning opportunities and resources for families and children alike.

In order to prepare children to become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, Stephen Wise recommends at least three years in a full-time or supplementary Jewish educational program. At Wise, we make both options available to your family: At Wise School, your children will embrace Hebrew and Judaic Studies in their everyday curriculum, helping them discover how Judaism can help them learn deeply, express their creativity, experience wholeness, and make great happen. Meanwhile, at our Center for Youth Engagement, you and your children may choose from a menu of options to help your child experience deep and engaging Jewish learning that will help them embrace Jewish lives of purpose and meaning. Contact us today to discover the choice that is right for you and your child.

We endeavor to prepare children and parents for these responsibilities through a series of family education programs that considers the purpose and meaning of prayer, the art of studying and making meaning from Torah, the art of designing and fulfilling a meaningful Tikkun Olam project, as well as the benefits of engaging in Jewish community. These programs are offered to families of Wise School and Center for Youth Engagement students throughout their preparation for B’nai Mitzvah. Dates for each program may be found in your academic year calendar.

Each of our B’nai Mitzvah students will prepare to lead their prayer service under the tutelage of our mentors. Malcolm McElheney, Program Director, B’nai Mitzvah & Hebrew Studies, will contact parents and students ten to eleven months prior to your service date to arrange for an initial meeting. At that meeting, he will explain how the mentoring process works and will answer any questions you might have. He will also match your B’nai Mitzvah young person with a Stephen Wise peer mentor. Mentorship begins with a Hebrew and tefillah / prayer intensive eight or nine months out from the service date and continues with preparation for the students Torah and Haftarah portions.

We recently instituted an exciting new program within our B’nai Mitzvah program, called “Peer Mentors”. A Peer Mentor is a young person who is asked to participate within our program and who meet the following criteria: excelled while studying within our program, has a positive outlook, acts responsibly, loves Jewish learning, and wants to help other young people.

As Program Director of our B’nai Mitzvah Studies, we supervise and monitor everything our Peer Mentors do while ensuring student progress. Peer Mentors meet with our new B’nai Mitzvah students for the first two months of our new nine-month program, which begins with a Hebrew and Prayer Intensive. The new students meet with their Peer Mentor at the temple once a week for one hour. In these one-on-one sessions, students will study and focus on Hebrew reading applied to our prayers. In addition, students will also begin to learn trope (the melodic symbols used to indicate how to chant Torah and Haftarah), which they will use in the next phase of their study to help prepare them for the chanting at their bar/bat mitzvah service. Every young person can use this study and review time, and our Peer Mentors are qualified to teach it have all recently been through our B’nai Mitzvah and school programs themselves. After the first two months, our students begin to work with an adult mentor in the next steps of their preparation.

Thus far, the “Peer Mentor” segment has been successful in many ways and serves as a great introduction to our B’nai Mitzvah Program. Our Peer Mentors are serious about their work, and working with someone who has recently been through the bar/bat mitzvah process can make the learning feel more welcoming, fun, and less overwhelming.

Our tradition teaches us: “Make a teacher for yourself and acquire for yourself a friend.” The new students and Peer Mentors learn and grow from each other. They create a chavruta, the traditional Jewish practice of learning with a chaver — a friend, and form a creative, interactive, teaching/learning unit which can be both motivational and inspiring.

Finally, our Peer Mentors are role models to the new students, modeling the excellence of our B’nai Mitzvah program and demonstrating that learning, especially Jewish learning, can be meaningful and fun. My hope is that all our Peer Mentors will inspire our students with excellence, confidence, and pride… and perhaps one day encouraging them to become a Peer Mentor themselves.

For more information regarding the mentoring process please contact Malcolm McElheney, Program Director, B’nai Mitzvah & Hebrew Studies.

  • Mitzvah Tools: All Stephen Wise Temple families have access to Mitzvah Tools, a new cloud-based Bar and Bat Mitzvah education platform. This interactive tool supports collaboration between students, parents, and Temple educators. Accessible from all your devices (computers, phones, tablets), Mitzvah Tools will help you track your child’s learning, progress, and participation while offering students the opportunity to take their learning everywhere they go. Families will receive a tutorial prior to the start of their tutoring sessions with our Program Director, B’nai Mitzvah & Hebrew Studies, Malcolm McElheney.
    To learn more, click here.
  • Prayer & Liturgy: Click here to listen audio recordings of Torah portions and prayers.
  • Torah Study: Nine months prior to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah date, students begin weekly meetings with their mentor. The mentor will call and arrange a time for weekly meetings. The student will meet with his/her mentor each week for 25 minutes. During these meetings, which continue until the Bar/Bat Mitzvah date, the student will prepare all blessings, prayers, Torah, Haftarah, and English readings.
    • Torah portions w/Audio Recordings

    • Students of Torah begin by reading and taking some notes on the Torah portion, or parashah. Though copies of the text may be found online, only a few sites use the 1985 JPS translation, so it’s best to read from a JPS TaNaKh or a chumash. In order to locate the parashah, you’ll need to know the Book of the Torah that your parashah falls in, as well as its beginning chapter and verse. The table of contents of a chumash should tell you where to begin. Each parashah contains a mix of different stories, genealogies, or laws, so it rarely makes sense to attempt reading the parashah in one sitting. Instead, break into parts. Some chumashim will do this for you. Otherwise, it may be helpful to divide the parashah into blocks of chapters or verses before reading. As you read, think carefully about what seems interesting or disconcerting to you, and ask questions along the way. Some questions to guide you as you read:Guiding Questions for Torah Study
      1. Where and in what book does my parashah take place? What might my parashah have to do with the overall themes of its book?
      2. Is my parashah part of a larger story or a larger collection of laws? If so, what role does my parashah play in the bigger picture? If not, what discrete stories or laws can be found within my parashah, and how do they relate (or not) to one another?
      3. What themes are present in my parashah?

      If your parashah contains a story…

      1. Who are the main characters within this text (recognizing that God can be a character)? What choices do they make and why do they make them?
      2. How are the characters and/or the Israelites transformed by what transpires during the story?
      3. What lesson(s) might the author of the text be attempting to share with us? Do you agree or disagree with these lessons?
      4. What lessons do you take from the text, even if they’re different from those of the author?

      If your parashah contains commandments or laws…

      1. What is being demanded of whom in the law(s) described?
      2. Is the purpose for the law(s) explicitly stated? Why do you think this law exists?
      3. What lessons would the Israelites draw from the existence of this law?
      4. What lessons can we/you, today, learn from the existence of this law?
      5. How might this law apply in our everyday lives today, recognizing that, in some cases, it may not apply today?

      If your parashah contains descriptions or genealogies:

      1. What picture is painted through this description or genealogy? What connections, if any, are being made between prominent characters?
      2. Why might the author feel that it’s important to establish this connection or idea?

    • Genesis
      The Book of Genesis (B’reishit) begins with the story of creation. God affirms that we live in a good world. We read about Adam and Eve and their children, Cain and Abel. The stories continue with Noah and the Flood as well as the Tower of Babel. Then the focus shifts from these earth-shaking events to the later stories of one man, Abraham. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, Leah and Rachel are the protagonists of the rest of the stories, telling the deeds of our ancestors. Each of these men and women are nomads, wandering the land that God promises them, each with their own personal visions and relationship with God. The longest story is the tale of Joseph and his brothers, the children of Jacob. The Book of Genesis ends with the children of Jacob in the land of Egypt, having traveled there for food to survive a famine. They settle there and grow numerous.Exodus
      The Book of Exodus (Sh’mot) resumes the tale of the children of Jacob, now called the Israelites. A new Pharaoh comes to power in Egypt and enslaves all of the Israelites. God selects a deliverer, Moses, to confront Pharaoh and liberate the people. After ten plagues, Moses, with his brother Aaron and his sister Miriam, leads the Israelites out of Egypt. They are pursued by Pharaoh and his army. Through a miracle, they cross the Sea of Reeds on dry land while Pharaoh and his army are caught in the waters and drown. Newly freed, the Israelites then proceed to Mount Sinai where they watch Moses ascend the mountain to speak to God. While he is gone, they lose faith that he will return and they build a golden calf as an object of worship. When Moses returns down the mountain with two tablets proclaiming the Ten Commandments, he expresses God’s rage and destroys the tablets and the idol. After the people repent, Moses returns to God on top of the mountain and carves a new set of tablets. The people also build a sanctuary for God, a portable tent called a Tabernacle. As they leave Mount Sinai with the tablets of the law, God’s presence rests above the tent in the form of a cloud.Leviticus
      The middle book of the Torah, Leviticus (Vayikra), examines the laws and rules for those who serve in God’s sanctuary, the Tabernacle, which serves as a paradigm for those later in history who would serve in the Temple in Jerusalem. The priests (cohanim) and Levites facilitate the people’s worship of God. Among the topics listed here are the holidays, as well as daily offerings in the form of sacrifices. Other laws, such as rules to leave food for the poor and protections for widows and strangers, are also listed in detail. The most famous statement in Leviticus is: “Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).”Numbers
      Beginning with a census of the Israelites, Numbers (Bamidbar) tells the story of the Israelites as they travel through the wilderness towards the Land of Israel, the Promised Land. The challenges resume when Moses and God attempt to prepare the Israelites to invade the Land of Israel and take it from the idolatrous nations, known for, among other things, child sacrifice. After sending spies to scout out the land, however, the people balk at the idea of invading. They lack faith and courage in their mission. For this reason, this generation, raised in slavery in Egypt, will live the rest of their lives wandering in the wilderness. It will be their children, raised as nomads, who will have the strength to stand up and fight.
      The trials of the Israelites in the wilderness follow a pattern. The Israelites were rescued by God from Egypt, but they remain devout so long as everything is going well. At the beginning of any kind of hardship, they lose faith and complain that life was better back in Egypt. In response, God stops protecting them. They discover how bad life could really be as they meet with only more catastrophe made worse by God’s withdrawal. When they repent, however, the people find God’s providence restored. In this way, the Israelites face the challenges of thirst, fire, and wild beasts, as well as the internal strife of rebellion. As the generation of slaves passes away, the new generation, led by Joshua, prepares to assume their inheritance.Deuteronomy
      Deuteronomy (D’varim) consists of three speeches that Moses gives to the Israelites at the border of the Promised Land that they are about to invade and claim for their own. Moses stresses that their relationship to the land depends upon their relationship with God. If they follow all of God’s commandments, they will enjoy abundance and blessing. If they rebel against God, they will endure suffering and curses, and they will eventually be exiled. Moses declares the unity of God with the words, “Hear O Israel, the Eternal is our God, the Eternal is one!” and cautions the Israelites not to imitate the practices of the idolatrous nations they are fighting. Moses tells them that free will is given to each of them—that before each of them lay life and blessing, death and curse. He begs them to choose life that they and their descendants will live for a long time in the land of their ancestors. Moses dies, not able to enter the Promised Land himself.
    • Guides to Parashah Study
  • Tikkun Olam