Students must be enrolled in either the Rodeph Sholom School or the Religious School at CRS by 4^th grade in order to properly prepare to become a B’nai Mitzvah. Exceptions can be made under certain circumstances—please contact the Director of Religious Education, Kerith Braunfeld, to ask about late Religious School enrollments.

In the 3^rd/4^th grade (depending on birth year) parents are invited to a clergy-led study session called “Beginning the Journey”, where they are introduced to our B’nai Mitzvah staff and learn about the B’nai Mitzvah process. Parameters for available dates are provided and parents submit their top 3 choices through an online request form. Families will receive confirmation of their assigned date around 2–3 months after Beginning the Journey.

The number of children assigned to a given date varies but no more than 3 children will share the Main Sanctuary in any week and no more than 2 children are assigned at a time to the Schnurmacher Chapel.

Summer dates are available upon request.

Yes, we have a program to help you and your family train here for your service in Israel or abroad. The program includes meeting with a cantor, meeting with a rabbi, tutoring for 6–8 months to learn prayers, Torah and Haftarah, participating in our Family B’nai Mitzvah Program (FBMP), and being honored on the bimah at a Friday night service leading up to becoming B’nai Mitzvah. Please contact Melissa Forstein for more information about this opportunity.

One year after you receive your official B’nai Mitzvah date our Operations Associate, Miriam Baron, will reach out to you about available rental spaces in the synagogue on the date of your ceremony and how to secure a space if you wish. After submitting your request form, Miriam will be in touch with you to finalize the rental agreement.

Due to our kashrut (religious dietary rules) regulations, we require you to work with someone familiar with our synagogue’s requirements. Our Operations Associate, Miriam Baron, will provide you with a list of suggested caterers to choose from. 

Families may hire their own photographer and/or videographer to commemorate their child’s B’nai Mitzvah. Photographs may be taken before the service or before/after the rehearsal. The B’nai Mitzvah service may be videotaped from the 2^nd floor balcony in the Sanctuary or from a fixed position in the back of the Schnurmacher Chapel, provided no special lighting is used.  Arrangements for both photos and videography can be made with our Operations Associate, Miriam Baron. Please note that photography is not permitted in either the Sanctuary or the Schnurmacher Chapel during services.

The B’nai Mitzvah Experience Fee includes all of the clergy led classes and cantorial lessons and helps to cover the cost of the congregational kiddush and increased security costs due to the large number of guests who attend the service. This fee is billed in two installments; the first installment is due two years before the B’nai Mitzvah date and the second installment will be due one year before the date. 

Please contact Helena Kelly with regard to financial aid. 

Students are taught trope (cantillation) in the 6^th grade during Religious School and RSS. Parents are contacted for an Initial Meeting (IM) with the Cantors’ Study 6–8 months before the B’nai Mitzvah date, after which students receive weekly 20-minute individual tutorial sessions. We also offer a number of small family study sessions with our clergy starting in the 5^th grade year as part of our Family B’nai Mitzvah Program (FBMP).

You can log into Schedulicity to cancel your class and choose a different class. If you are unable to do so, you may contact B’nai Mitzvah Experience Administrator Melissa Forstein for assistance. 

It is our goal to make the B’nai Mitzvah ceremony a meaningful ritual for your entire family. Attending several services at Rodeph Sholom on both Friday night and Saturday morning will ensure that all members of your family are comfortable with the rituals that surround the B’nai Mitzvah ceremony and the particular practices of our congregation. 

Yes. 3–4 months before the B’nai Mitzvah, clergy assistant Jessica Adducchio will reach out to you to set up a private session with a member of our clergy to begin the d’var torah writing process. About 6 weeks before the ceremony, the assistant of your officiating rabbi will reach out to you to set up a final appointment to review and approve the speech. 

In the 6^th grade, RSS students participate in hands-on mitzvah projects approximately every six weeks as part of their multi-year service learning curriculum. Religious School students learn about tzedakah (righteous giving) as part of their curriculum in partnership with Teen Impact Project (TIP) and plan a hands-on mitzvah project that they implement in the community.

Friday night services begin at 6pm and Saturday morning services are at 10am. Families are asked to arrive by 5:30 on Friday evening and 9:30 on Saturday morning for a brief rehearsal review before services begin. If prior arrangements have been made to take photos on Saturday morning, please arrive at your scheduled time.

Services begin on Friday night at 6pm and Saturday morning at 10am. 

Yes, you are welcome to order and deliver them to our Operations Director, Rachael Evans, prior to services on Friday. We recommend providing an invitation to be placed in the basket along with the kippot. We will provide the basket. 

Families may hire their own photographer and/or videographer to commemorate their child’s B’nai Mitzvah. Photographs may be taken before the service or before/after the rehearsal. The B’nai Mitzvah service may be videotaped from the 2^nd floor balcony in the Sanctuary or from a fixed position in the back of the Schnurmacher Chapel, provided no special lighting is used.  Arrangements for both photos and videography can be made with our Operations Associate, Miriam Baron. Please note that photography is not permitted in either the Sanctuary or the Schnurmacher Chapel during services. 

Yes. Children are called up for the Shabbat candle lighting ritual and blessing and families are called (with parents) for the Kiddush blessing. The parents read an introductory prayer in English and the child leads the Kiddush in Hebrew. This information is all reviewed at the final rehearsal. 

A rehearsal is held the week of your B’nai Mitzvah. For those having their ceremony in the Main Sanctuary, the rehearsal will be held on Wednesday at 5:30pm and for those in the Schnurmacher Chapel, rehearsal will be held on Thursday at 5:00pm. This rehearsal lasts approximately 1.5 hours. 

Various honors are available for family members on the day of the B’nai Mitzvah service including reciting an aliyah (blessing before the Torah reading), and performing hagbahah (lifting of the Torah) or gelilah (wrapping and covering of the Torah). Family members are able to share an honor and you will be contacted a few weeks before the service to provide a list of your honorees. 

Yes. During Saturday morning services we recite the Mourner’s Kaddish (prayer for the deceased). A few weeks before the service you will be asked to submit the names of any deceased family members you would like to remember on this special day, and their names will be read aloud.