Like many other Jewish parents, Janice Spector wwas thinking ahead to her son's Bar Mitzvah celebration. But she was worried about something beyond the usual planning for invitations, prayer shawls and parties. Her son attended the Stephen Gaynor School, an acclaimed academy for children with learning disabilities. How would he learn to chant his Torah and Haftarah portions? Who could work with him and his special needs? Some parents at the school had given up on the idea of a traditional Bar or Bat Mitzvah, but Spector wasn't willing to do that.
Enter the Hebrew Home Study program of the Metropolitan Synagogue of New York. The brainchild of Rabbi Joel Goor, the program is an urban alternative to traditinal Hebrew Schools for the space-challenged Reform congregation, which does not have its own building (services are held in a Unitarian church building around the corner from Goor's office). Billed as a Hebrew School that kids actually like, Hebrew Home Study offers small classes in students' homes, with teachers making house calls to give lessons to typically overscheduled city kids at their convenience.
"It's a great arrangement", says one tacher. :"After a full day of school the kids are in a comfortable environment, and in small groups, they all get the attention they need and bond really well with the teacher and each other." The teachers can gear the lessons to the students' interests. "And holding lessons in this setting shows the kids that Judaism belongs in the home, not just the synagogue.". And she makes use of that with her students, using their kitchens, pianos, and DVD players for her classes, and even their computers for a Bar Mitzvah training program.
As it turns out, these advantages are especially helpful for children with learning disabilities and other special needs. The personalized attention, in a one-to-one setting, if necessary, allows the teacher to adjust lessons as needed, capitalizing on each student's strengths and accommodating limitations. And just as every student's Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration is personalized to taste, the special needs student can have both training and ceremony tailored to suit. Many of the teachers have professional training in special education, ranging from dyslexia and ADD to visual and audio impairment, and even giftedness, so they are well-prepared for all sorts of situations.
In fact, even families affiliated with other synagogues and movements have contacted the Hebrew Home Study office for help. And while Rabbi Goor would like to have all of the program's students celebrate with his congregation, he realizes that some of them have extenuating circumstances and are in real need, so he refers them to an appropriate teacher. As it happens, a number of teachers are also members of other congregations or movements -- some of them are Orthodox yeshiva graduates -- and are therefore able to to tutor students in the relevent customs and rituals.
Spector's son's Bar Mitzvah was so successful that she is now enrolling his little sister, who is not learning disabled, in Hebrew Home Study. "The program is so warm and friendly and supportive. I want my daughter to have that, too, even if she doesn't have the same needs." And because the program accomodates both types of student, siblings with special needs feel like they're having a normal Bar or Bat Mitzvah experience, rather than being left out of the mainstream once again. Like their sisters and brothers, they are encouraged to develop a love of Judaism and a confidence-boosting feeling of accomplishment.
A Hebrew Home Study Bar Mitzvah Story!
