At the very moment that Jew­ish young peo­ple approach ado­les­cence, we ask them to take on an enor­mous expe­ri­ence of plan­ning a bar or bat mitz­vah cer­e­mo­ny to mark their spir­i­tu­al, phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al com­ing of age. How can par­ents and edu­ca­tors shep­herd bnei mitz­vah through this process with­out over­whelm­ing them, main­tain­ing even tem­pers, thought­ful deci­sion-mak­ing, and room for negotiation?

Goldie Mil­gram springs to help stu­dents and their par­ents to pre­pare thought­ful­ly for their ​“B‑Mitzvah,” as she refers to it. With charts, jour­nal­ing exer­cis­es, lots of how-to guid­ance, and thought­ful expla­na­tions and rich anec­dotes, Reclaim­ing Bar/​Bat Mitz­vah guides stu­dents and their par­ents to estab­lish a timetable lead­ing up to the cer­e­mo­ny, aid­ed by the book’s guid­ance on the rit­u­als and prayers they may be leading.

The book is espe­cial­ly use­ful as a sup­ple­ment to guid­ance from a rab­bi or edu­ca­tion­al leader. Read­ers will learn how to give a d’var Torah or ser­mon, how to match the right mitz­vah project for the stu­dent, and how to cel­e­brate after the reli­gious ser­vices with an appro­pri­ate Jew­ish spirit.

This is an out­stand­ing and use­ful book for any­one who works with ​“pre-B-Mitz­vah” stu­dents from rab­bis, teach­ers, edu­ca­tion­al direc­tors, and stu­dents ages 10 – 13.

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