My son turned 12 this week, so approximately one year from now we will be celebrating his becoming a bar mitzvah, a literal "son of the commandment(s)," a Jewish coming-of-age celebration. For the next year I plan to blog about our experiences as a family going through this process.
As a jumping off point, I'm sharing two articles about b'nai mitzvah that have appeared recently. I'll probably blog about them in more detail later, when Rosh Hashanah isn't bearing down on me and I've had some time to gather my thoughts. But together the illustrate the kind of trepidation with which I approach this process.
First, from the New York Times, an article about how how Jewish families are "... living in the religious school industrial complex..." which creates cookie cutter ceremonies and produces largely disinterested cookie cutter kids. Take the time to read the comments; it's a fabulous conversation. As a former member and driver of that system, I find the comments encouraging and depressing. (Click here to read the article.)
The second proposes turning the entire b'nei mitzvah process on its head by changing the age from 13 to 17. If more than 50% of kids drop out of synagogue life after their b'nei mitzvah because they see it as the culmination, the graduation, move the goal post. (Click here to read the article.)
In some ways, I've been planing my son's bar mitzvah since the day he was born, perhaps even before, and each one I've attended over the years has shaped and influenced what I envision as what to do and what not to do.
But these articles are tempting me to blow the entire process wide open, kick tradition to the curb and see what we build.
370-ish days and counting.
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