Bob, Steven M. and Lisa Bob Howard. The Bar and Bat Mitzvah Manual: Six Steps to a Memorable Family Celebration. Springfield, NJ: Behrman House, 2008, 60 p. $8.95. ISBN 978-0-87441-812-5. Pbk. Ages 12 to adult.

 

Touted as a workbook that will help rabbis, cantors, education directors and family programmers to prepare b’nai mitzvah students and their families for this important life-cycle event, The Bar and Bat Mitzvah Manual disappoints from beginning to end.

Although there are some positive components to this book—clear language, manageable chunks of activities and “Real World” examples, the negative features outweigh the positive. The text is printed blue on white; all the photos inside the book are also tinted blue. This format gives one the feeling of an old-fashioned workbook that would have little appeal to young people today.

With its patronizing tone, The Bar and Bat Mitzvah Manual seems like a “Bar and Bat Mitzvah for Dummies” book. For example, the section about how to prepare a d’var Torah is sadly lacking in depth. The components skim the surface, without showing the student how to do the research or even write his or her d’var Torah.

For a better overview of b’nai mitzvah, use your budget to buy a new edition of Putting God on the Guest List by Jeffrey K. Salkin or Whose Bar/Bat Mitzvah Is This, Anyway? by Judith Davis.