Bar/Bat Mitzvah Basics

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. 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.

Topics include:

• What it's all about from start to finish, tutoring, stress, expectations, negotiating the ceremony (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.

Contributors include: Rabbis, cantors, and educators-Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist; fathers and mothers of bar/bat mitzvah boys and girls; post b'nai mitzvah teens; party planners.

"Out of her vast experience as a Cantor and educator, Leneman has written an important guide that strengthens and solidifies the family through the wisdom and warmth of Judaism." --Rabbi Harold Schulweis, Valley Beth Shalom, Encino, California; author of For Those Who Can't Believe