June 2006
Dear Bar and Bat Mitzvah Families,
We hope this letter finds you enjoying the summer and anticipating your child becoming bar or bat mitzvah in the months ahead. We are looking forward to sharing this simcha with you and are writing to alert you to a newly established ritual policy for our congregation of which you might want to take advantage.
After a period of examination and discussion, the Religious Practices Committee, with the guidance of the Rabbis and Cantor, has voted to establish a Congregational Aliyah at each service during which Torah is read. This new guideline, endorsed by the Board of Directors, extends to Shabbat Morning and Shabbat Afternoon services in our Sanctuary a custom of the congregation that has long been part of our High Holyday and Festival celebrations as well as in the Shabbat Morning Chapel Service.
In practice, this means that at each Shabbat service when Torah is read, including those at which children become bar or bat mitzvah, an additional aliyah (3 verse Torah reading with the accompanying blessings) will be added to the service following the congregation’s prayer for healing. The opportunity to chant these verses will be offered to any properly trained and prepared member of the congregation. In the event that there is no volunteer from the congregation, one of the clergy will chant these verses. The blessings accompanying this aliyah will be typically chanted by the entire congregation.
As a courtesy … and an encouragement … the opportunity to prepare and chant the verses of the Congregational Aliyah is offered first to our bar/bat mitzvah families. Any one Jewish adult member of the family who is a member of Temple Beth Ami may volunteer. If there is a member from each of two families, they will both chant three (3) verses.
Please consider this letter not only as information, but as an invitation to participate. While making your decision, please keep the following established guidelines in mind:
-- The privilege of chanting the Congregational Aliyah is extended to Temple Beth Ami members, only.
-- Any congregant volunteering for this privilege must prepare in a manner identical to that required of our b’nai mitzvah: the portion is to be chanted according to the system of troupe, the participant must attend a scheduled troupe class with the Cantor, or at their own expense engaged one of the Temple’s bar/bat mitzvah tutors for instruction. Tapes or CD’s will not be provided.
--Families must notify the Cantor not later that their child’s first Torah review if they will volunteer to chant the Congregational Aliyah. At that time, the volunteer from the family must display a basic level of Hebrew reading skill.
--If the bar/bat mitzvah families have not indicated their commitment to prepare the Congregation Aliyah by the first Torah review, the privilege will pass to other members of the congregation who have volunteered.
-- Congregant family members must prepare in the same manner and to the same level of excellence expected of our b’nai mitzvah and must show themselves to be proficient at their child’s first bima rehersal (approximately 5 weeks before the bar/bat mitzvah date).
-- If the family member is not proficient, the privilege is relinquished and the responsibility passes to other volunteers from the Temple membership or to the clergy.
--On occasion, the Congregational Aliyah may be used to acknowledge events in the life of the Temple community such as the birth of children, upcoming weddings or other congregational milestones.
The Congregational Aliyah will be included in our services beginning in August of 2006. Families with August b’nai mitzvah and who are interested in preparing the Congregational Aliyah must contact Cantor Eschler not later than June 1st. Clergy will be available all during the summer to help adult members of the congregation prepare to chant the Congregational Aliyah.
The inclusion of this additional short aliyah will give the entire congregation an opportunity to participate in the Torah reading, will provide opportunities for our many trained Torah chanters to exercise their skills, and will encourage others to pursue additional Jewish learning in order to chant Torah for the congregation. We hope you will give consideration to this new opportunity for adult learning and for participation in the Torah readings at our Shabbat Morning and Shabbat Afternoon Services.
If you have any questions regarding this new practice or would like to accept or decline the opportunity, please contact our Rabbis or Cantor.
With our best wishes for a healthy summer and a joyous simcha!
