This is an editorial in response to recent comments by Rabbi Eric Yoffie.
ITHACA, NY — In a recent editorial, Reform leader Rabbi Eric Yoffie criticizes the willingness o Chabad to allow any child a bar mitzvah. He describes the norm of othe congregations to require family synagogue membership and attendance i Hebrew school for a year or more before allowing children to be bar-mitzvahed He cites this practice as necessary for ensuring that the bar mitzvah will not be “withou meaning, an excuse for a party.” And he accuses Chabad of becoming a “purveyor o Jewish minimalism, lowering educational standards for our children and the community, teaching the lesson that “Judaism is not a serious endeavor and that even the mos significant milestones require only a modicum of commitment.
Re: The Good and Bad of Chabad – Chabad On The Bar/Bat Mitzvah: It’s Your Jewish Birthright!
This is an editorial in response to recent comments by Rabbi Eric Yoffie.
ITHACA, NY — In a recent editorial, Reform leader Rabbi Eric Yoffie criticizes the willingness o Chabad to allow any child a bar mitzvah. He describes the norm of othe congregations to require family synagogue membership and attendance i Hebrew school for a year or more before allowing children to be bar-mitzvahed He cites this practice as necessary for ensuring that the bar mitzvah will not be “withou meaning, an excuse for a party.” And he accuses Chabad of becoming a “purveyor o Jewish minimalism, lowering educational standards for our children and the community, teaching the lesson that “Judaism is not a serious endeavor and that even the mos significant milestones require only a modicum of commitment.
To be sure, he is correct that Chabad downplays the importance of bar-mitzvah preparation when considering their long-term educational goals. In a recent survey of directors of Chabad Hebrew Schools, only 11 respondents selected “preparing kids for Bar-Mitzvah” as their most important goal.
But this is hardly a statement of Jewish minimalism. The goals the directors favor include giving children positive Jewish experiences (101 votes), exposing children to Torah (74 votes), teaching children about Jewish holidays and rituals (73 votes), and inspiring children to become actively Jewish adults (64 votes).
What Yoffie fails to consider is that Chabad’s willingness to offer all children a bar mitzvah stems not from lowering of religious standards, but from a refusal to make children the pawns in a game of institutional extortion.
The reason most temples demand certain requirements be met before allowing children to be bar-mitzvahed has nothing to do with standards—and everything to do with increasing synagogue revenue. The present system of front-loading fees such as synagogue membership and building fund, while creating an economic base for synagogue operations, discourages many Jews from getting involved.
Thus, many American Jews affiliate with synagogues only because they believe that if they do not, their child will not be able to become a bar-mitzvah. In effect, the children are forced to pay the price for the failure of congregations to give their members a reason to want to join of their own volition. And so the kids become hostages. Parents are told that unless they ante up, their children will be denied this most significant of milestones. Some parents pay the ransom. Others leave the temple in disgust.
YO
SHOULD THE BOY NOT HAVE A BAR MITZVAH?
Am HaAretz
maybe someone should tell the honorable Mr Yoffee that Bas/Bar Mitzvah is not a Mitzvah.
and that distortion of the Simcha of becoming resposible for real Mitzvohs has resulted in the most outlandish display of wealth and vanity.
Chabad is bringing Bar Mitzvah back to being a Simcha, instead of a financial and social pressure – at least i hope they are not getting caught up in the Bar/Bas Mitzvah display industry.
heimish770
"refusal to make children the pawns in a game of institutional extortion. "
Right on!!!!!!!
yossi
this reform phony is just using out the opportunity to celebrate the time that a lad enters into :"jewish adulthood" and is now obligated in the mitzvos which is a reason for celebration under any circumstance to earn a buck. who does he think he’s fooling.