Home › Beit Teffilah › Life Cycle › Bar/Bar Mitzvah

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Information

Quick Info

  • Dates: A child becomes a bar/bat mitzvah around their thirteenth birthday. Families receive a date request form when children are in the fourth or fifth grade and a confirmation of their assigned date within a few months.
  • Times: To mark their passage into Jewish adulthood, b'nai mitzvah are called to the Torah (the "Bar/Bat Mitzvah Ceremony") during Shabbat services held at 10:30 a.m. or at 5:00 p.m. During the season when we follow Standard Time (November – March), Havdallah will follow the afternoon service.
  • Process: About six months before their bar/bat mitzvah date, students begin meeting with clergy as well as with a madrikh, a guide/counselor assigned to help prepare them to read Torah and Haftarah and deliver a teaching to the congregation.
  • Learning: We expect that candidates for bar/bat mitzvah participate in our educational programs (religious school or Tiyul: Shabbat B'yachad) in the years before and after bar/bat mitzvah. Because our programs are not simply focused on "bar/bat mitzvah training", student involvement continues past age 13.
  • The Social Hall: The social hall is available for families who would like to hold a celebration there. For more information contact Ruth Berg: ruth@templeisaiah.com or 310-277-2772 x28.


Suggested Resources

From the moment your child was born, you began embarking on an incredible life-long journey together. In many ways, this journey began many centuries ago and will continue far into the future, as it is written in Talmud, “Whoever teaches their child teaches not only their child, but also their child’s child, and so on to the end of generations.” For bringing your child thus far into a life of Torah and faithfulness, we celebrate you.
Mazel Tov!

Date Assignments for
July 2014 – June 2015

If your child will be thirteen or older during the July 2014 to June 2015 b’nai mitzvah year, it’s already time to choose a date for his or her bar or bat mitzvah.

We have created this online process for you to learn about our b’nai mitzvah procedures and guidelines and submit your date request. Please read through each section below by clicking on the links so that you are aware of the process before you submit your request.

The online b’nai mitzvah date-booking process will close on May 31, 2012.

After the calendar is complete, we will email you a confirmation of your approved date. Please be patient; this process takes several months, and we will notify you in July. Everyone will receive their date confirmations at the same time. If you have any questions about the b’nai mitzvah program, please call Julie Moldo, Temple Isaiah’s B’nai Mitzvah Coordinator, at (310) 277-2772 x 14.