7th Grade

The 7th Grade program, called B2Mitzvah: Boneh (Building) B’nei Mitzvah, is designed to mirror the wonders of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah year, providing meaningful Jewish engagement before, during, and after your child’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Children at this stage are in formation: building character, life skills, and Jewish identity. The curriculum includes:

• Reflection on a big issue impacting our students, our community, and our world.
• A monthly check in on the progress of each student’s mitzvah project.
• J-Lectives, which are initiatives that allow students to experience Jewish education beyond the classroom, in fun and meaningful ways with friends and family.

Curriculum

Participation in eight workshops designed with each child’s B’nei Mitzah date in mind:

• Holocaust & Human Rights – Part 1 & 2
  Exploring our own Jewish identities, and how we define ourselves in relationship to others and how this affects their “universe of obligation”. Examine historical events of the Holocaust, as well as discover personal stories of individuals living in Nazi Germany in the 1930’s and throughout Europe during World War II.
• Trope Workshop
  Refining the necessary skills to lead the Bar/Bat Mitzvah service from the bimah and introduction to Trope, the cantillation used to chant Torah.
• D’var Torah Workshop
  Developing a D’var Torah, the speech that each child delivers at Bar/Bat Mitzvah, including an exploration of their Torah portion.
• Lo Ta’amod Initiative – Part 1 & 2
  Building an abiding commitment to helping others, understanding root causes of a world in need, and developing a Mitzvah Project that is important not just now, but throughout their lives.
• Hugging and Wrestling with Israel – Part 1 & 2
  Discovering the geography, history & culture of our Jewish homeland, along with the complexities of the people and issues of the modern State of Israel.

Learning Hebrew

• 7th Grade students (and some 6th Grade students with Fall of 7th Grade Bar/Bat Mitzvah) begin weekly 20 minute tutoring sessions at WRT with DAILY PRACTICE. They receive all preparation materials: recordings, prayers, Torah, Haftarah, photo copies and portion booklet.
• Communal prayer experiences on Wednesdays reinforce prior Chevruta sessions, prepare students to lead their Bar/Bat Mitzvah service, and allow for meaningful prayer and synagogue etiquette.

Schedule

Programming for the JLL typically begins in the middle to end of September. The schedule for 7th grade is:

Wednesdays, 5:15pm–6:30pm

B’nei Mitzvah tutoring sessions are arranged with families to best match the schedules of both our families and our tutoring team. If B’nei Mitzvah tutoring begins during 6th Grade, Chevruta also continues through the end of the 6th Grade year in order to reinforce bimah prayers. For specific questions regarding B’nei Mitzvah tutoring, please contact Suzanne.Saperstein@wrtemple.org.