• Home
  • About
    • About
    • Policies
  • Submissions
    • Op-eds
    • News / Announcements
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

eJewish Philanthropy

Your Jewish Philanthropy Resource

  • News Bits
  • Jewish Education
  • Readers Forum
  • Research
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / The American Jewish Scene / Taking the Torah Home at Kol Tikvah

Taking the Torah Home at Kol Tikvah

February 10, 2015 By eJP

A case study in B’nai Mitzvah Revolution at Congregation Kol Tikvah, Woodland Hills, CA.

Kol Tikvah Cheryl

By Cheryl Katz Mandel

A year ago my family experienced an unforgettable event: our daughter Alyssa’s Bat Mitzvah. We belong to a Reform congregation, Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills, California. My husband and I had each become Bar/Bat Mitzvah over 30 years ago, but this process felt brand new experiencing it as parents.

Our temple participates in the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution and our Rabbi, Jonathan Hanish, is trying to implement new ways to make the b’nai mitzvah experience more meaningful for the child and family. One such way begins on Friday night before the big day. At that time, Rabbi Hanish allows the child to take the Torah that he/she will be reading during the service to their home. Alyssa was one of the lucky individuals who experienced this honor. Following the oneg of the Friday Night service, Rabbi Hanish led Alyssa, my husband, and me into the dark and empty sanctuary. He turned on the bima lights and carried the Torah out from the ark. He handed the Torah to Alyssa, as he told her how the Torah represents the survival of the Jewish people, and that our foremost priority was to protect the Torah as we moved from home to home, from land to land. Rabbi Hanish explained to Alyssa that it was now her responsibility to protect the Torah, just as our ancestors have done for generations.

Alyssa was extremely excited about bringing the Torah home. It was a HUGE privilege and responsibility that she did not take lightly. She was told to always have the talit around her neck when holding it, and she sure did. Paying homage to the sanctity of the Torah, she would not allow any of us to hold the Torah unless we wore a tallit, too.

The weekend of Alyssa’s bat mitzvah, we had ten out-of-town family members staying with us, and it was quite chaotic. Because it was such a special time for our family, and we knew we were bringing a Torah into the house, we asked the family members to stay at a hotel for the evening. Normally the evening before a huge event would be frantic with last minute details and butterflies for the next day; instead it was calm and peaceful. I don’t know if it was just that we were well prepared for the following day, but having the Torah in my daughter’s bedroom denoted a sense of peace, a rare feeling of tranquility the day before a life-changing event.

The morning of the bat mitzvah, my daughter rolled the Torah out on our dining room table and searched for her portion. It made an already exciting day even more special.

When Alyssa read from that Torah during the service, she felt a familiarity with the scroll that few people get to experience. Even now, when we attend services, we all look at that Torah in a different light. It has become a “friend” rather than an object that many see as untouchable. I think that loaning the b’nai mitzvah child and family the Torah is such a small yet meaningful act. We will remember that gesture long after the memories of the event fade. Every family who has participated in this new tradition has had a meaningful experience. I know my eleven-year-old daughter, Lindsey, is now looking forward to her turn to take the Torah home.

Cheryl Katz Mandel lives in Tarzana, CA and is a member of Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills, CA.

B’nai Mitzvah Revolution (BMR) is a joint project of the Union for Reform Judaism’s Campaign for Youth Engagement and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s Rhea Hirsch School of Education and its Experiment in Congregational Education.

You can learn about the ways congregations are transforming the b’nai mitzvah experience by visiting BMR’s Innovation Guide, an interactive tool that includes innovative programs, goals, venues, participants, and more.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: The American Jewish Scene Tagged With: Union for Reform Judaism / URJ

Click here to Email This Post Email This Post to friends or colleagues!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chaim Lieberperson says

    February 10, 2015 at 6:09 pm

    This is a wonderful progression of “owning the moment” as your synagogue permitted it, entrusted you and appreciates the tactile impact of having the scroll at home. Synagogues that restore a scroll by having families sponsor the task and are permitted to take the scroll home at designated times EACH year feel more connected, esp. when they celebrate with a praying minyan in the home. Let the de-alienating, re-schooling of American Jews persist! Kol haKovod to the creative minds that are willing and able to stay fluid.

  2. Laura Novak Winer says

    February 10, 2015 at 7:36 pm

    It has been an honor to support Kol Tikvah in their work on the B’nai Mitzvah Revolution. It has been eye-opening to observe the families and b’nai mitzvah youth who have experienced taking the Torah home with them and hear the impact that it has on them not only during the weekend of the b’nai mitzvah, but also longer term. Yashar koach to Rabbi Hanish and his community.

Primary Sidebar

Join The Conversation

What's the best way to follow important issues affecting the Jewish philanthropic world? Our Daily Update keeps you on top of the latest news, trends and opinions shaping the landscape, providing an invaluable source for inspiration and learning.
Sign Up Now
For Email Marketing you can trust.

Continue The Conversation

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent Comments

  • Karolyn Benger on Diverse Narratives and Backgrounds Can Create Broader Jewish Life
  • Jordan Goodman on Mitzvah Day: Good, But (Maybe) Not Tikkun Olam
  • Cindy Greenberg on Mitzvah Day: Good, But (Maybe) Not Tikkun Olam
  • Lisa Finkelstein on Diverse Narratives and Backgrounds Can Create Broader Jewish Life
  • Yehuda on Parting the Red C’s – Escaping Egypt and the belief that Millennials won’t pay

Categories

Archives

Footer

What We Do

eJewish Philanthropy highlights news, resources and thought pieces on issues facing our Jewish philanthropic world in order to create dialogue and advance the conversation. Learn more.

Top 40 Philanthropy Blogs and Websites to Follow in 2018

Copyright © 2018 · eJewish Philanthropy · All Rights Reserved