Parents, educators, rabbis and student must work as a team to adjust the ceremony to the student's learning style and capabilities.

Traditionally, the father recited one blessing during the service, but today, parents are often much more involved.

The bar/bat mitzvah service now focuses on the child as individual, but the synagogue community should not suffer.

For converted children, bar/bat mitzvah is a time for affirming their connections with Judaism.

Um, very. A recent bat mitzvah party in Stamford Connecticut had to be cleared out by the police because 14-year-olds ...

The bar mitzvah (and even more so the bat mitzvah) is a relatively new phenomena.

For a traditional family, the appropriate date for a bar/bat mitzvah is the Shabbat on or following the child's birthday, but for a liberal family, selecting a date can be more complicated.

Suggestions for adding social action to this rite of passage.

The defining moment of the ceremony is the child's first aliyah, but children may also play additional roles in the service.

What to expect and how to behave at a bar/bat mitzvah service.