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B'nai Mitsvah Classes

Alternate Sundays, 10:30 am–12:30 pm

A comphrensive two-year program meeting twice a month and culminating in a secular humanist group bar/bas mitsvah celebration. The program is open to all Jewish children, including children of mixed heritage, patrilineal descent, unaffiliated and/or non-religious. It is open to girls 10 and older and boys 11 and older.

The B'nai Mitsvah program provides an environment in which students can learn about Jewish history, culture and traditions and be proud of their Jewish heritage. Priority is given to the students to ensure the experience is meaningful and valuable to them. To this end, each student does a research project of their choice, makes a presentation about his/her family history, and performs community service. The program also has an intergenerational focus: all family members have a role to play.

• The meaning of a Bar/Bas Mitzvah to secular Jews
• Other cultural rites of passage
• Who is a Jew?
• 10 Commandments
• Tsedoke
• Ethics and justice
• Jewish geography and history
• People we should know
• The Holocaust and Ghetto uprisings
• Pogroms and the Inquisition
• Immigration
• Humour
• Holidays and traditional foods
• Music and art
• Literature
• Introduction to Yiddish/Hebrew
• Current issues

B'ney Mitsvah '04 teachers guide students in preparing their rebuttals during debate on the survival of Jewish culture vs. assimilation

Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture

6184 Ash Street
Vancouver BC V5Z 3G9
tel 604-325-1812
fax 604-325-2470
info@peretz-centre.org

B'ney Mitsva handbook for students and families (PDF document; 113 kb)