Make Your Own Bar/Bat Mitzvah:
A Personal Guide to Creating a Meaningful Rite of Passage

by Rabbi Goldie Milgram
Hardback, 300 pp.
ISBN: 0-7879-7215-0
Jossey-Bass Publisher

Available on-line through all major booksellers (Amazon, B&N, etc.) Discounts available for bulk purchase through Wiley.com.


Book Description:

Ground-breaking, exceptional step-by-step guide to creating a meaningful and memorable Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Enhances the student’s autonomy, thinking, creative engagement, Jewish identity and self esteem. Parents and teachers move from being taskmasters to team planners of a “B-mitzvah” rich in emotional satisfaction, intellectual expansion, spiritual connection and logistical excellence. Based on research funded by the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

View a pdf of a Sample Chapter
   
View Professional Endorsements and Reviews


Table of Contents
Introduction
1   Reclaiming Bar/Bat Mitzvah as a Rite of Initiation
2   Creating Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah Action Plan
3   Knowing Yourself
4   Creating a Meaningful Jewish Study Plan
5   Interpreting Your Torah Portion
6   Finding Your Mitzvah
7   Partying Hearty
8   Sharing Gifts, Blessings, and Memories
Internet & Bibliographic Resources
Glossary
 

             
Professional Endorsements:

"Reb Goldie will become the rebbe of choice for twelve year olds and their parents across America. The teaching is solid, wise and inviting.  She does not preach, talk down, or ever become boring. The sample divrei torah are worth the price of admission. Would that every family embarking on this journey could have Reb Goldie as a guide!" 
        
         
Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, PhD. Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia, author of Parenting as a Spiritual Journey"What a cause for a celebration this book is! I cherish it as a parent, educator and as an impassioned adult Bat Mitzvah student. Filled with wisdom, humor, and a wide range of practical suggestions, Rabbi Milgram has given us an invaluable tool to help transform our learning process into a joyous adventure."
          Julia Indichova, author of Inconceivable; Director, Fertile Heart Parenting Center

"Such a treat to find a book that offers insight into helpful ways of connecting with Bar & Bat Mitzvah students, and enhancing their autonomy, thinking, creative engagement, Jewish identity and self esteem.  Make Your Own Bar/Bat Mitzvah includes a unique planning process that showed me how to involve the whole family.  I hope this book launches a needed revolution in experiencing the B-Mitzvah year(s).  Next year I'll be working with a wonderful women's group for their B'not Mitzvah. Thank you Reb Goldie!"
         
Ellen Weaver, Psychotherapist and Pastoral Counselor, Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor

Available on-line through all major booksellers (Amazon, B&N, etc.) Discounts available for bulk purchase through Wiley.com.