Bar/Bat Mitzvah Basics: A Practical Family Guide to Coming of Age Together

This practical guide gives families the how-to information they need not only how to navigate the bar/bat mitzvah process, but how to grow as a family through this coming-of-age experience. For the first time in one book, all who are directly involved in bar and bat mitzvah offer their practical insights into how the process can be made easier and more enjoyable for everyone. Rabbis, cantors, and Jewish educators from the Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist movements, parents, and even teens speak from their own experiences.

Topics include:
What it s all about from start to finish, tutoring, stress, expectations, negotiating the ceremony and the celebration (including issues related to divorced and interfaith families), how to design a creative service, and advice on planning a reception that neither breaks the bank nor detracts from the inherent spirituality of the event. A practical companion to Putting God on the Guest List.

Helen Leneman is a cantor in Rockville, Md., whose specialty is barmitzvah education. She is Chair of the CAJE (Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education) B nai Mitzvah Educators Network and is the author of BarMitzvah Education: A Sourcebook.