This gallery of B’nai Mitzvah Innovations profiles cutting edge approaches to B’nai Mitzvah.
First, begin your exploration of our six areas of experimentation with a button below.
Second, enjoy browsing through each of the snapshots in the collections.
Kvelling and Storytelling
Parents gather together every few months over brunch during Sunday school to kvell over their children and their own successes as parents as well as grapple with issues affecting parents of teenagers. A subject is chosen before the meeting; topics have included antisemitism and other biases, independence vs. protection, and l’dor v’dor—how to create connections with Jewish tradition that are authentic to each family. Parents share stories that illustrate their own challenges around topics they are often reluctant to raise in a group setting.
Lessons Learned
The Kvelling and Storytelling gatherings help the group to grow as individuals and as a circle of parents, experiencing the congregation as a true community finding meaningful connections and supporting the sacred work of parenting.
Program Info
Learners: Parents
Year Implemented: 2015
Areas:
- Becoming an Adolescent
- Family Engagement
About Us
Sherith Israel
San Francisco, CA
550 family units
Reform Congregation
B’nai Mitzvah each year: 15