B'nai Mitzvah Curriculum
Shalom! Here you can find all the materials and instructions for the program. In general, the daily assignment consists of four parts-
I Daily Practice
II Vocabulary
III Text study
IV Learning Prayers and melodies for your ceremony
You can also find other general information at the bottom of this page.
Enjoy!
I Daily Practice
II Vocabulary
III Text study
IV Learning Prayers and melodies for your ceremony
You can also find other general information at the bottom of this page.
Enjoy!
I
DAILY PRACTICE
When you wake up
~Chant Modeh Ani while in bed- page 2 of Artscroll
~Wash hands with vessel (instructions in the Artscroll on same page if you forget)
~Chant hand washing blessing (outside bathroom) with head covering- middle of page 16
Morning Practice
Ideally you would do this in the morning, but if you don't manage to do this in the morning, you can still do it any time during the day.
Have head covering on
~Hold Tallit Katan and chant blessing- middle of page 2
~Meditation- close eyes, relax and focus awareness on breathing for a few moments.
~Chant the Elohai Neshamah prayer- near top of page 20. Focus on your chest, heart and lungs, having gratitude for breathing and life. For a nice English translation, click here and scroll down to "Siddur HaLev". Elohai Neshamah is on page C3.
~Chant the Asher Yatzar blessing, toward the bottom of page 16. Focus your awareness on your belly, having gratitude for the workings of your body. To practice your reading and pronunciation, click here for a recording. For a nice English translation, click here and scroll down to "Siddur HaLev". Elohai Neshamah is on page C3.
~Chant Torah blessing- top of page 18, first sentence only.
~Chant the Sh'ma- (Middle of page 30)- (Click here for recording to check your pronunciation and reading.) Inhale before each of the six words, and extend out each word on long tones. Then read the next verse- "Barukh shem...", then read the whole next paragraph- "v'ahavtah..." until "oovee'she'arekha". Once you are comfortable with this, you can begin learning the different levels of Jewish meditation practice. Click here and scroll down to Jewish Meditation. Learn and practice Jewish Meditation I. When you are ready, move on to the next levels.
~Amidah- start praying the first six words from the Amidah with your siddur, standing and doing bows (page 102 in Sefard Artscroll). It would come after the Sh'ma/veahavtah and meditation. Add a seventh word- "v'imoteinu"- "our mothers". Then, spend a few moments praying for things in your own words. Then, take some time to give thanks for things. Begin your thank you prayer with a bow. When you are finished, bow and take three steps backward, and chant the end of the Amidah- "Oseh shalom..." with the bows to left, right and front.
On Shabbat morning, do the Amidah a little differently. Instead of the part when you ask for things, instead make a prayer just for Shabbat. For example, you could pray that everyone absorb the blessings of Shabbat. Or you could pray that the restfulness of Shabbat bring peace ot the world. Come up with something in your own words.
~Journalling- write down any thoughts that come to you about what we are learning, talking about, or anything else that comes to you regarding any of this material. Don't censor yourself- there is no right or wrong. You can also write about your feelings about what we are doing. The point is just to get in the habit of writing and to be aware of any thoughts or feelings you are having.
DAILY PRACTICE
When you wake up
~Chant Modeh Ani while in bed- page 2 of Artscroll
~Wash hands with vessel (instructions in the Artscroll on same page if you forget)
~Chant hand washing blessing (outside bathroom) with head covering- middle of page 16
Morning Practice
Ideally you would do this in the morning, but if you don't manage to do this in the morning, you can still do it any time during the day.
Have head covering on
~Hold Tallit Katan and chant blessing- middle of page 2
~Meditation- close eyes, relax and focus awareness on breathing for a few moments.
~Chant the Elohai Neshamah prayer- near top of page 20. Focus on your chest, heart and lungs, having gratitude for breathing and life. For a nice English translation, click here and scroll down to "Siddur HaLev". Elohai Neshamah is on page C3.
~Chant the Asher Yatzar blessing, toward the bottom of page 16. Focus your awareness on your belly, having gratitude for the workings of your body. To practice your reading and pronunciation, click here for a recording. For a nice English translation, click here and scroll down to "Siddur HaLev". Elohai Neshamah is on page C3.
~Chant Torah blessing- top of page 18, first sentence only.
~Chant the Sh'ma- (Middle of page 30)- (Click here for recording to check your pronunciation and reading.) Inhale before each of the six words, and extend out each word on long tones. Then read the next verse- "Barukh shem...", then read the whole next paragraph- "v'ahavtah..." until "oovee'she'arekha". Once you are comfortable with this, you can begin learning the different levels of Jewish meditation practice. Click here and scroll down to Jewish Meditation. Learn and practice Jewish Meditation I. When you are ready, move on to the next levels.
~Amidah- start praying the first six words from the Amidah with your siddur, standing and doing bows (page 102 in Sefard Artscroll). It would come after the Sh'ma/veahavtah and meditation. Add a seventh word- "v'imoteinu"- "our mothers". Then, spend a few moments praying for things in your own words. Then, take some time to give thanks for things. Begin your thank you prayer with a bow. When you are finished, bow and take three steps backward, and chant the end of the Amidah- "Oseh shalom..." with the bows to left, right and front.
On Shabbat morning, do the Amidah a little differently. Instead of the part when you ask for things, instead make a prayer just for Shabbat. For example, you could pray that everyone absorb the blessings of Shabbat. Or you could pray that the restfulness of Shabbat bring peace ot the world. Come up with something in your own words.
~Journalling- write down any thoughts that come to you about what we are learning, talking about, or anything else that comes to you regarding any of this material. Don't censor yourself- there is no right or wrong. You can also write about your feelings about what we are doing. The point is just to get in the habit of writing and to be aware of any thoughts or feelings you are having.
II
VOCABULARY
Make vocabulary a regular part of your daily study, learning the meanings of the words and phrases for all the prayers below. Begin with the first prayer, and when you feel you've learned the vocab from that prayer, move on to the next one.
Modeh Ani
VOCABULARY
Make vocabulary a regular part of your daily study, learning the meanings of the words and phrases for all the prayers below. Begin with the first prayer, and when you feel you've learned the vocab from that prayer, move on to the next one.
Modeh Ani
| modeh_ani.pdf |
Torah Blessing
| torah_blessing.pdf |
Sh'ma, V'ahavtah
| shma_vahavtah.pdf |
III
TEXT LEARNING
Read each of these texts and answer the questions at the end in your journal. The texts are numbered.
1. Awakening I (not uploaded yet)
TEXT LEARNING
Read each of these texts and answer the questions at the end in your journal. The texts are numbered.
1. Awakening I (not uploaded yet)
2. Awakening II (not uploaded yet)
3. Intention I (not uploaded yet)
4. Intention II
| intention_ii.pdf |
5. Intention III
| intention_iii.pdf |
6. Intention IV
| intention_iv.pdf |
7. Intention V
| intention_v.pdf |
8. Intention VI
| intention_vi.pdf |
9. Intention VII
| intention_vii.pdf |
IV
PRAYERS AND MELODIES FOR YOUR CEREMONY
1. Sh'ma and V'ahavtah- Click here and scroll down to "Chanted Prayer Recordings and PDFs". Then continue to scroll down to the "Sh'ma and V'ahavtah" mp3.
2. Torah Blessings- this is not the same as the morning practice Torah blessing. These are the blessings you say before and after you actually chant from the Torah (or get called to the Torah). Click here and scroll down to "Chanted Prayer Recordings and PDFs". Then continue to scroll down to the "Torah Blessings" mp3 and PDF all the way at the bottom.
PRAYERS AND MELODIES FOR YOUR CEREMONY
1. Sh'ma and V'ahavtah- Click here and scroll down to "Chanted Prayer Recordings and PDFs". Then continue to scroll down to the "Sh'ma and V'ahavtah" mp3.
2. Torah Blessings- this is not the same as the morning practice Torah blessing. These are the blessings you say before and after you actually chant from the Torah (or get called to the Torah). Click here and scroll down to "Chanted Prayer Recordings and PDFs". Then continue to scroll down to the "Torah Blessings" mp3 and PDF all the way at the bottom.
GENERAL INFORMATION
What to bring to our class together
Journal or notebook (this is one is important! The journal will be used to do writing assignments)
Siddur (the Artscroll one)
Tallit katan and Kippa or other head covering (if you forget the the clothes, it's ok, I'll have stuff here, but it is good to get used to using your own things so there is continuity).
Learning vocabulary words
In order to learn the words, quiz yourself on each word of the prayer you are studying, so that you come to remember the meanings of each word. After you translate a word, check yourself to see if you are right. If you are, go to next word. If not, go back a few words and try again.
Chanting
When chanting the prayers, do your best to use the tones we've learned. In the beginning, we will be chanting on three tones. To remember them, you can sing the song "Rain Rain Go Away". The three notes in that are the notes to use for your chanting. You can experiment with what syllables to put on what notes- it something to improvise by feel, not be locked into a certain melody.
What to bring to our class together
Journal or notebook (this is one is important! The journal will be used to do writing assignments)
Siddur (the Artscroll one)
Tallit katan and Kippa or other head covering (if you forget the the clothes, it's ok, I'll have stuff here, but it is good to get used to using your own things so there is continuity).
Learning vocabulary words
In order to learn the words, quiz yourself on each word of the prayer you are studying, so that you come to remember the meanings of each word. After you translate a word, check yourself to see if you are right. If you are, go to next word. If not, go back a few words and try again.
Chanting
When chanting the prayers, do your best to use the tones we've learned. In the beginning, we will be chanting on three tones. To remember them, you can sing the song "Rain Rain Go Away". The three notes in that are the notes to use for your chanting. You can experiment with what syllables to put on what notes- it something to improvise by feel, not be locked into a certain melody.