Recognition of the achievements of our young members as they embark on lives of Jewish responsibility is an important and serious activity of our congregation. Our B'nai Mitzvah program at Kol Ami is guided by the following principles.

• Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremonies are sacred events. We honor this sanctity by celebrating them joyously, and in a way that reflects the momentous nature of the day.
• Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremonies are not private events, but rather communal celebrations. They are, in fact, regular congregational Shabbat services – services that the student helps lead, and at which we celebrate this special moment in their lives.
• These communal celebrations, like all others, succeed best when they are team-efforts. The CKA staff and lay leaders look forward to working in partnership with you to help make this event a joyous and memorable one for your family and for our entire community, too.
• Rather than an endpoint of education, participation, and living Jewishly, the Bat/Bar Mitzvah is an important transition point to adult participation in the life of the synagogue. We encourage and expect our B’nai Mitzvah to take advantage of the continuing educational, social and religious offerings of Kol Ami in the years following their attainment of this important milestone.

Please see our full description of the B'nai Mitzvah process. (This document requires the Adobe PDF Reader. If you do not have it installed on your computer, you may obtain it from the Adobe site.)