USCJ: TPI 17: Involving Post Bar/Bat Mitzvah Students in Synagogue Life

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Timely Program Ideas

TPI 17: Involving Post Bar/Bat Mitzvah Students in Synagogue Life

In Pirke Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, Hillel, the great Torah Sage, is quoted as saying, dalah moseef yasuf, knowledge not increased is decreased. Jewish learning and living is a lifelong commitment. Unfortunately, the bar/bat mitzvah is increasingly seen as a milestone marking the end of synagogue involvement rather than the beginning of a more active participation in worship services and Jewish learning. Although many youth do participate in USY and may even attend a community Hebrew High School, participation in synagogue life often ends after their bar/bat mitzvah, resulting in a group of young adults who are intimidated by religious services, scared away from synagogue participation because they are no longer familiar with this crucial aspect of Judaism. In order to maintain their commitment to Judaism, post bar/bat mitzvah children must be encouraged to become involved in Shabbat worship and congregational life. Here are some program ideas that will foster this involvement.

This program was developed by Temple Beth Israel of Sunrise, Florida, in response to the rapid decline in Shabbat service attendance of the youth, upon the completion of their bar/bat mitzvah. The program encourages those bar/bat mitzvah students who are interested and active in religious school to remain involved in synagogue life after the completion of their bar/bat mitzvah. Special invitations, requesting their participation in the Honors Aliyah Program (H.A.P), should be sent to those students recognized by the Rabbi/Cantor and/or educational director as achievers and potential contributors to synagogue life. Students accepting the invitation commit themselves to attend at least two Shabbat morning services per month, at which they will be expected to help with various duties at the synagogue. The students are mailed a list of jobs and must return a registration form on which they choose the way in which they will help out on the required Shabbat mornings. Some possible activities include reading from the Torah, either in the main sanctuary or for Junior Congregation, helping with Junior Congregation, serving as junior gabbai during Shabbat services, and helping out with Shabbaton lunches and classes.

At the beginning of the school year, there is an initial training day in which students are assigned their duty and taught the information they need to properly carry out their assignments. For example, a student interested in being a junior gabbai would be taught the specific function and duties of a gabbai and told exactly what will be expected of him or her. Training may involve extra time with the Rabbi, Cantor, or a teac her. Once trained, the students are expected to help out in synagogue at least twice a month for the entire school year.

In addition to aiding the synagogue by performing these various services, the H.A.P. program should provide the students with the opportunity to meet and learn informally with the Rabbi/Cantor. At least once a month, the Rabbi/Cantor may want to host a Shabbat lunch in his house and each Shabbat he may want to hold a brief class on the parsha of the week. It may also be nice to invite the families of these children, who themselves may wish to become more familiar with the synagogue and the prayer services, to an occasional Shabbat luncheon following services. H.A.P. participants should be expressly invited to special speakers and synagogue events and should not have to pay fees. You may even want to allow one H.A.P. student each week to sit on the bimah as "junior president" during Shabbat morning services.

The school year should conclude with the giving of certificates to those students who successfully complete the H.A.P. program. If possible, the year should end with a trip for the students, rewarding them for their participation. The program can be expanded to allow participation in activities not directly connected to Shabbat, such as volunteering as aids in the religious school, tutoring for bar/bat mitzvah, bikkur cholim, and many other synagogue related activities.

Although many children learn to read Torah for their bar/bat mitzvah, this often is the last time they read Torah. Those who have learned the trope, quickly forget it if it is not practiced, and those who have never mastered the trope see no reason to invest the effort after the completion of their bar/bat mizvah. In order to encourage post bar/bat mitzvah students to master their Torah reading skills and to continue their synagogue participation, Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas, Texas, has instituted a Torah Reading Program. The teens are sent readings to study by trope. The students practice the readings on their own, without the aid of a cassette, and one week prior to the actual kriah, those readings are reviewed and polished with the Cantor or Rabbi. Students are asked to strive for mastery of not only the Hebrew text, but the trope and grammar as well.

In order for this program to be effective, several milestones, in terms of pesukim read, should be established and incentives must be created, giving students concrete goals and something to strive for. The incentives used at Congregation Shearith Israel are:

Of course, any number of different incentives can be used. In addition to these incentives, a list of participating students and the number of pesukim completed may be published in the synagogue newsletter.