The Circle of Life: I Just Can't Wait to be King!
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Version (Kadima)
SWUSY Fall Kallah and Kamp Kadima - Sicha 2
November 18-20, 2011 @ Camp Young Judaea Texas
Prepared by Maury Jacobs, SWUSY Regional Director
Based off Materials from Amy Dorsh and Rabbi Cara Weinstein Rosenthal
Goals
1.
2.
3.
4.
Look towards or reflect upon the Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience
Examine the importance of Kadiminik's own Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Learn where Bar/Bat Mitzvah traditions come from
Explore future life cycle events, post Bar/Bat mitzvah
Materials
1. Leaders Packet
2. One copy of "The Jewish Life Cycle" per USYer/Kadimanick
3. 6 copies of scene from "Keeping up with the Steins"
Overview
1. Setting the Scene (10 minutes)
2. The Traditions and Experience (20 minutes)
3. A Halachic Dilemma: Can a Deaf Person Have an Aliyah? (10 minutes)
4. Creating New Rituals (20 minutes)
Note to Educator: Clearly depending on the age group of the Kadimaniks you will either have a group of
pre-Bar/Bat mitzvah (6th), post-Bar/Bat Mitzvah (8th) or a combination of the two. Certain sections of
the program will only work best or are worded for one side of the coin. I've tried to point out these
areas, but please make sure and look over the program and plan accordingly. For the sections that are
past tense, you can have the students answer what they think they will feel in the future.
PROGRAM
Setting the Scene (10 minutes)
We will start off by acting out a scene from the movie "Keeping up with the Steins". Select 5 volunteers
for the parts in the play (Planner, Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Ben). Give them copies of the script. Before
they begin, set the scene by reading:
The background to this scene is that Ben and his parents have recently attended the over-the-top Bar
Mitzvah of Ben’s friend Zach. The Bar Mitzvah party had a “Titanic” theme and featured rappers, tons of
bling and a live killer whale. Ben’s dad and Zach’s dad are business rivals, and Ben’s dad wants to plan a
Bar Mitzvah party to top Zach’s. In this scene, Ben, his parents, and his grandmother are meeting with a
party planner to try to choose a theme for Ben’s Bar Mitzvah party.
As a side note, you may want to mention that Bar Mitzvah parties like Zach’s in the movie happen in real
life: In June, TMZ reported that Flo Rida had been hired to play a Canada boy’s Bar Mitzvah party,
complete with sets and dancers.
Have the Kadimaniks perform the skit.
Discuss the following questions:
1. What values and priorities regarding Ben’s Bar Mitzvah does his father display? His mother?
2. Is it appropriate to have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration that costs millions of dollars? Why/why
not? What should a Bar/Bat Mitzvah be like?
a. (It’s fine to have a nice celebration, but the focus should really be on the service –
and the meaning of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah – and not on how lavish the party is. Also,
if you do have millions of dollars to spend on a Bar/Bat Mitzvah party, perhaps it’s
better to have a more modest party and to give some of that money to tzedakah!)
3. How would you respond to Ben’s father’s statement that what happens at the synagogue is not
important?
a. (What happens at the synagogue is what connects the Bar/Bat Mitzvah boy/girl to
his/her people and heritage…and what allows him/her to display his/her
achievement in learning and studying in preparation for that event. How can those
things not be important?)
4. For post-bar/bat mitzvah groups: In what ways was your Bar/Bat Mitzvah meaningful to you? In
what ways was it not meaningful? What could have made it more meaningful?
5. For pre-bar/bat mitzvah groups: What are you most looking forward to about your bar/bat
mitzvah?
The Traditions and Experience (20 minutes)
As a group, go through pages 42 and 43, ending with the questions on 43. You may want to have
Kadimaniks summarize and comment on the 2 larger texts rather than reading the summary provided by
the book. Remember for the questions, you may have to change the tense depending on the age of your
group.
On page 44 read together a small section in the middle of the page. Start with the 3rd paragraph (Bar
Mitzvah) and read until the second to last paragraph (stop before Many Conservative).
Use the discussion questions on page 45.
If you have lots of time remaining in this 20 minute section, read "A Miracle Bar Mitzvah" on page 45
and 46 and discuss.
A Halachic Dilemma: Can a Deaf Person Have an Aliyah? (10 minutes)
In a group or in pairs, have the Kadimaniks go through this section on pages 47 and 48.
Discuss the "Looking ahead" questions on page 48.
Creating New Rituals (20 minutes)
Split the group into sets of 3 people. Assign each of the groups 1 (if you are short on time) or 2 (if you
have the full 20 minutes) of the lifecycle events from pages 54 and 55. Instruct the groups that they are
to create a Jewish ritual for this event. Give them about 10 minutes to prepare and save 10 minutes for
the presentations. They should be prepared to explain why they chose the activities, actions, prayers,
etc to signify the event. Encourage the Kadimanicks to do a fake performance of this new ritual.
Apendix A: Scene from "Keeping up with the Steins"
Dad: We were talking about upscaling our plans.
Mom: A little.
Dad: Lot. Lot.
Planner: We must zero in on a theme.
Dad: Yes.
Planner: We can't really do anything until we zero in.
Grandma: I'm not here. I'm invisible. I'm just the grandmother, and if I happen to have an
opinion, I'll keep it to myself.
Dad: Sit, Miss Invisible. Benji, do you have any idea how lucky you are?
Planner: This will be amazing, but before we do any of it, we have to pin down our theme.
Dad: Do more pinning, more pinning.
Ben: I'm a little shaky on my themes right now.
Mom: We need to make sure...
Dad: We know what we're doing.
Planner: That's what we need to make sure of. It's three months away.
Dad: We have no idea what we're doing. That's a problem right now.
Grandma: Oy.
Dad: What?
Grandma: I'm not saying anything.
Mom: We have the temple reserved.
Dad: Joanne, it doesn't matter what happens at the temple. It's the party that counts.
Mom: Benjamin, does this have something to do with Zachary's bar mitzvah?
Dad: What are you talkin' about? He had a great time. We all did.
Mom: I thought the killer whale with the yarmulke was...
Ben: Yeah. I thought that was...
Dad: Fantastic.
Ben: a bit too much.
Mom: We're not gonna go that far.
Planner: They thought that was the highlight of the party.
Dad: It was for me. How did you get the yarmulke to stay on?
Planner: Velcro.
Dad: Wow.
Grandma: Shamu is Jewish?
Mom: Is it because you don't wanna compete with his bar mitzvah?
Planner: We'll blow the Stein bar mitzvah away.
Dad: Whoo! Yeah.
Grandma: I'm not saying anything, but I'm thinking something.
Dad: Benjamin, we have to know what we're doing, and we have to know now.
Ben [in an aside]: I had no idea what I wanted, except for everyone to leave me alone, so I said
the first thing that popped into my head.
Ben: Baseball?
Planner: Baseball!
Dad: That's a hell of a theme.
Planner: Baseball.
Dad: Let the games begin.