The joy and pride of watching your child become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah at University Synagogue is hard to describe on paper. Students say that the b’nei mitzvah experience at University Synagogue is both challenging and rewarding, and is a moment in their life they are so proud of! Parents describe the b’nei mitzvah program as one of the “most special things we do at University” and say that both the rigor of preparing for the b’nei mitzvah and the beauty of the actual service make our b’nei mitzvah program “the best on the West Side.”

In addition to six-months of training with Cantor Jay Frailich, plus a number of private sessions with Rabbi Morley Feinstein and Rabbinic Intern Joel Thal Simonds, students have the opportunity to take part in the Golden Kippah Program. The Golden Kippah program is a special opportunity for students in the year prior to their bar/bat mitzvah to perform mitzvot above and beyond the norm. Projects include: acts of love and kindness, community service, attending services and Torah study, and more.

Each Bar/Bat Mitzvah selects a Tzedakah Project as part of his/her entrance into religious adulthood. Some examples of projects our students have chosen are: sending care packages to troops in Iraq, planting trees in Israel to help raise awareness for environmental issues, volunteering at the Miracle Project, a theater program for kids with special needs, volunteering with Koreh L.A. to help kids learn how to read, or cleaning up the coast with Heal the Bay.