RJ Blog

by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat I love the excited buzz in the synagogue before Shabbat morning services when one of our kids is going to be called to the Torah as b’nai mitzvah. I love the eager, nervous energy I feel emanating from the family. The parents, caught between the mundane organizational details they were worrying about yesterday and the growing awareness that today is something different, a different kind of time. The younger sibling, if there is one, rolling their eyes but also realizing that this is going to be them someday. I love standing outside in the field behind [...]

The Jewish Journal reported this week on the growing trend of teenagers exiting Jewish life once their b’nai mitzvah experiences come to an end – and what the Reform Movement is doing about it. Reporter Ryan Torok writes, When Isa Aron considers b’nai mitzvah today, she gets the impression that parents — and sometimes synagogues — care more about their son or daughter performing flawlessly when on the bimah than they do about their forming lasting connections to Judaism. “The moment itself is wonderful because the kid is up there performing and all that, but Jewish value of the moment [...]

by Anna Marx Jewish and Christian bloggers have been actively discussing the new show on TLC, “The Sisterhood,” where one family announced they are planning a “Christian bar mitzvah” for their son. While the Jewish world is wrestling with bringing the bar mitzvah ceremony into the 21st Century (some would say it takes a revolution!), the Lewis family is planning a “Christian bar mitzvah” for their son, Trevor. Pastor Brian, Trevor’s father, was raised Jewish and converted to Christianity. The Lewis family sees the bar mitzvah as an opportunity to embrace their Jewish heritage — at least with a big party, [...]

by Jennifer B. Perlick Two years ago I realized, “Wow, my daughter’s bat mitzvah is coming up!” Of course, I wanted it to be special. I wanted it to be really meaningful for her – and for me and the whole family – but I wasn’t super-inspired by the b’nai mitzvah ceremonies I was attending at my synagogue. Don’t get me wrong, I love my congregation, Har HaShem in Boulder, CO. It offers the largest community of Jewish families in Boulder, its religious school is extremely well-run, and the rabbi and cantor are both young and hip. But the b’nai [...]

by Rabbi Heath Watenmaker If you’re reading this article there is a good chance you belong to a Reform synagogue. Have you ever thought about what that means? Why do you belong to a Reform synagogue? Why are you a Reform Jew? What makes you a Reform Jew? Now, think about your children or grandchildren. Have you explained why you belong to the Reform movement? Have you talked about the Jewish choices that you have made in your life? Have you talked to them about what it means to be a Reform Jew? As the Reform Outreach Initiative Rabbi at [...]

In a controversial blog post on Kveller.com that’s making waves within the Jewish community, rabbinical student Patrick Aleph proposed yesterday that the Jewish community dramatically rethink b’nai mitzvah, which he says are “not really worth anyone’s time or money.” Aleph, who studies at the Rabbinical Seminary International in New York City (and is not affiliated with any movement), says we should instead replace the bar mitzvah with a “a new type of [b’nai] mitzvah system where the entire family learns the curricula for the bar or bat mitzvah ceremony, and passes it on to the child through in-home learning, as opposed to [...]

I recently returned from the National Association of Temple Educators (NATE) conference. The theme of the conference was Project-Based Learning, a methodology in which participants go through a process of inquiry in response to a complex real-world question, problem, or challenge. Ron Berger, an expert on Project-Based Learning and keynote speaker, shared an example from his practice. His community discovered that some of their well water was contaminated. Instead of bringing in an outside testing service, Berger trained elementary students to do the testing themselves. Many issues emerged at the conference that have implications for the work of engaging youth, [...]

As my daughter, a junior at a local university and living at home, was approaching her 20th birthday, I tried coercing her into chanting her bat mitzvah Torah portion again. Perhaps I was having another of my helicopter parent moments or I just wanted a chance to hold on to her childhood, I’m not sure. No matter what reasoning I used, Amanda refused. She cited school work and her involvement at Hillel on Friday night where she could mingle with people her own age. How could I argue with her wanting to be studious and socialize? I acquiesced. For the [...]

by Rabbi Elias Lieberman Like many congregations within the Reform Movement, our community of 310 households has many interfaith families. Some 65% of the children in our education program have a parent who is not a Jew. In every case, however, these interfaith couples have made a decision to raise their children as Jews and have turned to our synagogue to help them in that process. In the 22 years that I’ve been privileged to serve as rabbi of the Falmouth Jewish Congregation, I have witnessed firsthand a generation raised by interfaith parents come of age with strong Jewish identities. [...]

The Reform Movement’s B’nai Mitzvah Revolution is the widest reaching initiative ever, launched by the Movement to radically transform the entire B’nai Mitzvah experience. Earlier this month, the first set of pilot congregations participated in a weekend-long workshop with 65 professionals and lay leaders from 14 congregations including faculty and staff from Hebrew Union College’s Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE) and the Union for Reform Judaism’s Campaign for Youth Engagement (CYE). The goal of the workshop was to support the congregational teams in radically rethinking their approaches to the preparation for, and celebration of, bar and bat mitzvah.

Thanks to social media and electronic devices you can check in on Foursquare and read the Mishkan T’Filah on a handheld device at the same time. Yet for all the modern inventions, the Torah remains unaffected. I have had the honor of watching as a scribe slowly and meticulously writes the letters by hand and as the Torah was certified “kosher,” and I just can’t imagine someone holding up an iPad when performing the ritual of hagbaha, the raising of the Torah. For me, Torah has been a part of temple life from bar mitzvah to Simchat Torah.

by Micah Ellenson “In a global world, there is unprecedented opportunity for relationship building, inter-connectedness, learning and meaning-making between and among Reform Jews across the globe,” Dr. Charles Edelsberg writes. Relationship-building between congregants and the institutions to which they belong is at the core of creating a meaningful Judaism in the 21st century. However, many barriers prevent connection between congregants and institutions. It is crucial to identify the obstacles that exist today in creating relationships of intimacy and meaning between congregant and congregation. Although there are many – and each congregation has a unique set – I will identify a [...]

The Jewish month of Elul is the perfect time for this symposium, and not just because  synagogues are opening of their religious school doors to young people and their parents for another year of Jewish learning. Elul is the very season of return. This month, in anticipation of the new year, we pause to recommit ourselves, communally and individually, to the enterprise of Jewish life and learning. So it’s the perfect time not only to imagine the future, but also to examine ways to inspire the next generation to discover joy in Jewish learning. Dr. Charles Edelsberg’s recent essay, characteristically, is [...]

The B’nai Mitzvah Revolution is here! This major new initiative is one of several strategies the Reform Movement is launching to address critical concerns about why so many teens leave congregational life after their b’nai mitzvah, and, too often, take their parents out the door with them. We’re thrilled to announce the 14 Reform congregations across North America that were selected to participate in an innovative pilot program to more fully engage families, institute new methods of teaching and keep teens and their families engaged in their communities. With seed funding from the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution, a joint initiative of the [...]