B'nai Mitzvah Family Journey 2024-2025

The B’nai Mitzvah Family Journey is a customized, culturally sensitive family program for parents and their bar/bat mitzvah aged teens. The year-long program offers Russian-speaking Jewish families an immersive, multifaceted experience, so children and parents can learn about the history, significance, traditions, and ritual of becoming bar/bat mitzvah through a culturally sensitive lens and in the comfort of a like-minded community.

B’nai Mitzvah Family Journey is an educational program for Bar/Bat Mitzvah aged teens and their parents with B’nai Mitzvah ceremony in New York and a ceremony in Israel.

  • B’nai Mitzvah Ceremony in New York on February 9, 2025
  • An organized trip to Israel and a ceremony in Jerusalem (February 17- February 20, 2025)
  • Opening retreat – Friday, September 6-Sunday, September 8, 2024 at Camp Zeke in Lakewood, PA
  • 8 Group educational sessions for the whole family, September 2024-February 2025
  •  A mentor will be matched with each teen for individual sessions
  • Mitzvah (volunteer) project
  • Shabbat dinners hosted and attended by participating families

Families will gather for 8 educational sessions, where parents and teens learn about Jewish history and traditions that have been passed down through generations.
Sessions take place on Sundays, 11am- 2pm.
September 29, 2024
October 20, 2024
November 17, 2024
December 1, 2024
December 22, 2024
January 5, 2025
January 26, 2025
February 2, 2025- Ceremony Rehearsal

Each family will choose a personally meaningful Mitzvah Project, practicing the value of Tikkun Olam- acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair the world. They will also deepen their engagement with the community and each other. Teens will present their projects during the B’Nai Mitzvah ceremony.

Individual sessions for teens will give them an opportunity for personal Jewish exploration with a knowledgeable mentor and prepare them for the B’Nai Mitzvah ceremony.

Program Subsidized Cost: $4,900 
Program cost includes:
* All educational sessions for the whole family (including teens, parents, and siblings)
* Family retreat at Camp Zeke
* Individual sessions with mentors (up to 6)
* Group ceremony and celebration in NY (up to 7 family members included in addition to the B’Nai Mitzvah teen)

Israel Experience Cost
Israel experience cost is $1,350 for every person traveling. It includes all ground costs (hotels, transportation, tour guides, entrance fees). It does not include airline tickets (each family will be responsible for making their own travel arrangements). *Registration for Israel Experience takes place after the cohort is launched and is separate from the Program Registration.

If interested, please click on “Register” and fill out the registration form.  Once the form is filled out, you will see the instructions on providing the program payment.

Program Registration is complete only upon receiving the full program payment.
Payment can be made by ACH/wire transfer ($4,917) or by credit card ($5,070).

Refund Policy
95% refund available until June 15th, 2024.
50% refund until September 15th,2024.
No refunds after September 15th, 2024.

Past cohorts’ photo and video gallery
B’Nai Mitzvah Family Journey 2020-2021
B’nai Mitzvah Ceremony in New York, June 20, 2021

B’Nai Mitzvah Family Journey 2019-2020
Opening Retreat in Poconos, September 20-22, 2019
B’nai Mitzvah Ceremony in New York, February 9, 2020
B’Nai Mitzvah Ceremony in Israel, February 22, 2020

B’Nai Mitzvah Family Journey 2018-2019
B’nai Mitzvah Ceremony in New York, February 10, 2019
B’nai Mitzvah Ceremony video
B’nai Mitzvah Ceremony in Jerusalem, February 21, 2019

 

For more information

or if you have any questions, please e-mail
Yigal Kotler at:

yigalk@cojeco.org