Customer Reviews

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Basics: A Practical Family Guide to Coming of Age Together

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I have never written one of these "reviews" for amazon.com before, but I feel compelled to share with readers this fantastic, absolutely indispensable book. If you are planning a bar or bat mitzvah for your child or grandchild, or know of a family that is planning this important coming of age ceremony for their child, this book is for you. My daughter became Bat Mitzvah several years ago, and I really wish this book had been around when we were going through the experience. It is such a valuable guide! I gave the book as a gift to a close friend, and he said that it helped his family create a truly meaningful experience for all of them, in planning the service for his daughter's becoming Bat Mitzvah. The book is designed to help families "cope" with the myriad details involved in planning for this wonderful family life cycle event. The book is particularly sensitive to interfaith, divorced, and alternative families, and their unique needs and experiences.

There is also a particularly wonderful chapter on the Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience for a special needs child. What I particularly like about the book is the fact that it contains contributed chapters from rabbis, cantors, educators, sociologists, and other experts- and even parents and teens- all of whom share their unique perspectives. This isn't one person's "philosophy", but rather a compendium of insights, ideas, and advice. The cover of the book says "How to manage the process with grace, joy and good sense". The book succeeds in that, and I can't imagine anyone planning a Bar/Bat Mitzvah for their child without this handy family guide!

As an adult preparing for bat mitzvah, this book was much too basic for me. I also attend synagogue regularly, and most of this stuff is routine from the service.

While this book was well written, it is for novices and non-attendees and their children.

I do not have a title to recommend for adults preparing for bar/bat mitzvah.

I'm amazed at how much information the author managed to get into this book, written with the guideance of Rabbis, cantors and educators frm the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements. If you hate reading pages of useless information and are looking for a well-researched, tightly written guide for preparing for and celebrating a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, I doubt you'll find many books better than this one. In addition to the basics you'd expect to find (Planning, Budgeting, the Ceremony), there are also special sections on interfaith and divorced families, what questions to ask about preparation (what a timesaver!), lessons and tips from families and teens who have completed Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremonies, making the Theme meaningful, whether or not to use a party planner, tips for families with special needs children and more.