2 minute read
In-School B’Nei Mitzvah
IN-SCHOOL B’NEI
MITZVAH
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תווצמ ינב יסקט רפסה תיבב
By Oren Kaunfer, P ’21, ’23, ’29, Madrich Ruchani
At JCDS, the in-school B’nei Mitzvah experiences have always been simple yet moving. Typically held in our school’s Beit Knesset (synagogue) with family, middle school grades, and many teachers and staff in attendance, in a pandemic, we knew we would have to find a way to celebrate differently. With a dash of ingenuity, a touch of creativity, and a splash of perseverance, we were able to apply our JCDS ‘secret sauce’ and turn these smachot (celebratory occasions) into something extraordinary. As with our daily T’fillot (prayers), we moved our B’nei Mitzvah celebrations outdoors. Parents, siblings, and even some grandparents were able to attend. Our 7th and 8th graders were all present in celebration and support. As restrictions were lessened we also welcomed our 5th and 6th graders, enabling our younger cohort to see their older friends as role models as they, too, approach the age of mitzvot and look ahead to their own B’nei Mitzvah experiences. Despite being distanced and masked, we learned that we could still create the sense of kahal (community) that is core to the Jewish prayer experience and that we at JCDS value deeply. We are tough New Englanders, so even when the sun was beating down in the spring or fall, or when temperatures were frigid, we persevered! Miraculously, we were able to celebrate most smachot — in every season — outside. Creating our davening space outdoors, in all sorts of weather, on the grassy field or blacktop, we could often feel like we were B’nei Yisrael, moving the Holy Tabernacle through the wilderness. Only once did we have to shift to the gym because it began to hail at the very moment we were walking the Torah outside! While new traditions like distanced aliyot (special blessings recited before and after Torah reading) had to be created, we retained the ikar (essence) of the experience. Songs and Psalms may have sounded muffled through our masks, but the power of voices coming together as one with the newly minted adult leading us could not have been clearer.
JCDS In-School B’nei Mitzvot welcomed family, staff, and classmates.
Clockwise from top: Isaac Menzin ’22, Rachel Krause-Grosman ’22, Amitai Wanderer ’22, Gideon Lind ’22, and Molly Sokol ’23
