Youth & Education

Youth & Education Introduction

Ganon Gil
Early Childhood Center

Mosad Shalom
Religious School

Youth Groups

Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Confirmation

Hebrew for
High School Credit

Madrichim Program

College Youth &
Young Adult Contact

Jewish Camps
Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Moses ascends Mount Sinai to receive the tablets of the covenant. "Adonai said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain veyeeh sham, and be there .'" (Exodus 24:12)


Menachem Mendel of Kotsk, a great Chasidic teacher asked, "If Moses had come up the mountain, why did God also have to tell him 'to be there'?" "Because," the Chasid answered, "it is possible to expend great effort in climbing a mountain, but still not be there. Not everyone who is there is there. Sometimes they are somewhere else."

Bar and Bat Mitzvah is a Sacred Mountain in Jewish time. We climb this particular mountain because it brings us closer to God, closer to Judaism, closer to our people, closer to ourselves. And what modern Jews need, more than ever, is a way to really be there at the summit of this holy mountain.

Bar and Bat Mitzvah are among the most popular American Jewish rituals. Yet few understand their history and deeper theological implications. They are more than a glitzy theme party, more than a moment of ethnic nostalgia. They are a glorious moment in the life of the family, the synagogue, and the Jewish people. And yet, over the years Bar and Bat Mitzvah have too often become a banal event, a confused event, a ridiculed event, an event that sometimes lacks meaning because we are not sure what it should mean, because we have not learned how to be at the mountain.

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, Putting God on the Guest List

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TAS Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program

TAS offers an outstanding B’nai Mitzvah program which helps our families to be at the mountain. The B'nai Mitzvah program is an extension of our Mosad Shalom Religious School in which our students are taught to read Torah, chant Haftarah and lead our congregation in worship in a memorable B’nai Mitzvah ceremony.

Each member of our clergy and administrative staff is involved in the preparation process which begins with 3 experiential family workshops and 20 weeks of individual instruction by our superb tutoring staff supervised by our Cantor. This also includes 6 weeks of personalized student rehearsals with the Cantor in the sanctuary, individual meetings with a Rabbi to prepare their speech and Torah or Haftarah summary, as well as a family meeting with the Cantor so that the music, readings and participation by members of the family reflect the needs of the individual families making it a truly memorable occasion.

Our program also boasts a very successful individualized computer learning program so that the student can practice using their computers or mp3 players as a study tool. There is also an optional 6 week Torah Cantillation class offered to our 7th grade students, taught by Cantor Frank, for those who would like to learn how to chant their Torah portion and expand their cantillation skills.