Adam Levitan’s Personalized Bar Mitzvah Page

Adam, use this page 3-4 times each week to prepare for your Bar Mitzvah. To ensure simcha success, please use the tools and downloadable items provided here to learn and practice your training assignments between visits with Cantor Green. For questions, e-mail me at cantor@kehillatbethisrael.com or call/text me at 613-327-3984. It is your responsibility to check this page to ensure it’s working properly right after each lesson, and let Cantor Green know if there’s a problem right away.

VERY IMPORTANT – MUST READ: KBI B’nei Mitzvah Handbook ONLINE

Bar Mitzvah Date: SATURDAY, August 12th, 2023, 9:00am
SHOF’TIM (CONFIRMED)
25th of Av, 5783

Tutoring Schedule – Starting Oct 12, 2022: Wednesdays, 4:00-4:20pm @ Cantor Green’s office

DATE/TIME GOALS HOMEWORK ASSIGNED
We, Sep 14, 2022

5-5:40pm

In-Person

Intro to B’nei Mitzvah Process

Intro to Webpage

Goal Setting

Lesson Time (start asap)

STUDY METHOD (always have your printouts/pages in front of you)

1. In your first homework session, Listen to the assigned audio files, each phrase separately, at least 15 times each. Let it sink in! Best practice is to listen a couple more times in a second sitting before trying to sing along.

2. Sing along with the audio files many times until it is identical, smooth and confident. If there are glitches, use the slider to “rewind” and review a word or two at a time until identical. You’ll know you’re ready for step 3 when the audio recording feels too slow or is ‘holding you back’.

3. Sing the whole assignment without the audio file (as you will in your next lesson).

Use this approach every week, and knock my socks off with how well you know it!

AND, 4. every week, you MUST review at least once, everything learned to date, and FIX any glitches.

We, Oct 26

4-4:20pm

Prepare Torah Blessings Torah Blessings (PDF):

Learn Blessing Before Torah reading (MP3)

Learn Blessing After Torah reading (MP3)

Discuss as a family what new date or type of service you’d like to switch to (avoiding your Israel trip, end of August). If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at cantor@kehillatbethisrael.com.

We, Nov 2

**4:40-5pm TODAY

Review Blessings before and after Torah reading Let me know what dates for (probably) a Saturday afternoon Bar Mitzvah. Materials we learn will depend on that!
We, Nov 9

4-4:20pm

Prepare Torah Trope Learn Torah Trope (PDF | MP3). You have two weeks to learn this as there’s no lesson next week
We, Nov 16 NO LESSON – CJG AT CA CONVENTION Keep studying and smoothing out Trope sheet. Make sure that you’re looking at the trope symbols this week rather than focusing on the printed names of the tropes.
Tu, Nov 22

3:50-4:10pm

NO LESSON TODAY – FAMILY ISSUES.

Prepare Weekday Shof’tim Aliya 1, 16:18

Learn R’ei Aliya 1, 16:18, using the table for Aliya 1 in the downloads section, below.
We, Nov 30

4-4:20pm

ZOOM TODAY (Adam not 100%)

Review Torah Trope

Review Shof’tim aliya 1 to date

Prepare Aliya 1, 16:19

Learn Aliya 1, 16:19

Try to learn Aliya 1, 16:20 as well. Go as far as you can with it – “Challenge without overwhelming!”

We, Dec 7

4-4:20pm

Review Aliya 1 to date

Prepare Aliya 2, 16:21-22

Learn Aliya 2 16:21-22 and if you can, 17:1
We, Dec 14

4-4:20pm

Review Aliya 1

Review Aliya 2 to date

Prepare Aliya 2, 17:1 and part of 17:2

Review Torah blessings

Learn Aliya 2, 17:1 and 17:2 up to “sh’arecha“, but if you can go all the way up to notein lach, all the better!
We, Dec 21

4-4:20pm

Review aliya 2 to date

Prepare rest of 17:2-3

LOTS OF ILLNESS. TOOK A REST
NO LESSON DEC 28 WINTER BREAK
We, Jan 4

4-4:20pm

Review Aliya 2 to date

Prepare Aliya 2, 17:3 and first two words of 17:4 (up to shamata)

Review Aliya 1

Learn Aliya 2, 17:3 and first two words of 17:4 (up to shamata)

Smooth out the notes of the end of Aliya 1 (final sof pasuk – make the “hecha” a high note.)

We, Jan 11

4-4:20pm BY ZOOM

Review Aliya 2 to date

Prepare Aliya 2, rest of 17:4, and 17:5 up to asu.

Learn Aliya 2, rest of 17:4 from v’darash-ta, and 17:5 up to asher asu.
We, Jan 18

4-4:20pm BY ZOOM

Review Aliya 2 to date

Prepare Aliya 2, rest of 17:5 and 17:6

Learn Aliya 2, rest of 17:5, and 17:6
We, Jan. 25

4-4:20pm BY ZOOM

Review Aliya 2 to date

Prepare Aliya 2, 17:6, and 17:7 up to l’hamito

Smooth out 17:5

Learn Aliya 2, 17:6, and 17:7 up to l’hamito

We, Feb 1 & 8

NO LESSONS – FAMILY VACA

Keep reviewing, smoothing out!
We, Feb 15

4-4:20pm

Shifting gears! Switching to Shabbat morning, Aug. 19 (Shoftim)

Learn Maftir for Shof’tim, 21:7-8

Learn Maftir for Shof’tim, 21:7-8 (See resources below)
We, Mar 1

4-4:20pm

Review Maftir to date

Prepare Haftara Trope Sheet

Review Torah blessings

Learn maftir 21:9

Learn Haftara Trope (PDF | MP3)

We, Mar 8

4-4:20pm

Prepare Haftara Trope

Prepare Blessing before Haftara

CJG will provide 1.5 weeks’ material for homework – no lesson next week

Learn Haftara Trope (PDF | MP3)

Smooth out Maftir (kapeir, v’atah t’va’eir)

We, Mar 15 NO LESSON – CJG VACA Keep working on above homework
We, Mar 22

NO LESSON – Adam ill

Adam ill. Try to do homework at right this week.

Review maftir

Review Haftara Trope

Prepare Blessing Before Haftara

If time, start Haftara

Print & Learn Blessing before Haftara (PDF | MP3)
We, Mar 29

4-4:20pm

Review Maftir

Review Haftara Trope

Review Blessing before Haftara

Prepare Haftara 51:12 and half of 51:13)

_____________ ____________________

Downloads (click to open, right-click to save to your computer)

Torah/Haftara Trope Sheet (PDF)

Torah Blessings (PDF)

ON HOLD – Weekday Shof’tim Aliya 1 (PDF | MP3) – All in Deut. 16

18 – 0:00 19 – 0:25 20 – 0:49

ON HOLD – Weekday Shof’tim Aliya 2 (PDF | MP3) – Deut. 16 & 17

16:1 – 0:00 2 – 0:22 17:1 – 0:36 2 – 1:05 3 – 1:39 4 – 2:10
5 – 2:34 6 – 3:11 7 – 3:34 8 – 3:57 9 – 4:38 10 – 5:03

ON HOLD – Weekday Shof’tim Aliya 3 (PDF | MP3) – All in Deut. 17

11 – 12 – 13 –

Maftir for Shoftim (Shabbat morning) – all in Deut. Chapter 21 (PDF | MP3)

7 – 0:00 8 – 0:17 9 – 0:42

Haftara Shof’tim – Isaiah Ch 51/52 (PDF | MP3)

51:12 – 0:00 13 – 0:25 14 – 1:07 15 – 1:24 16 – 1:45 17 – 2:10 18 – 2:45 19 – 3:05
20 – 3:31 21 – 3:54 22 – 4:11 23 – 4:48 52:1 – 5:12 2 – 5:49 3 – 6:15 4 – 6:32
5 – 6:57 6 – 7:24 7 – 7:46 8 – 8:16 9 – 8:38 10 – 8:59 11 – 9:23 12 – 9:48

Goals in order of priority

Blessings before and after Torah reading – DONE

NEW – Maftir aliya – IN PROGRESS

Haftara Trope – IN PROGRESS

Blessing before Haftara –

Haftara –

Blessings after Haftara –

Torah Processional –

Torah Recessional –

D’var Torah (with Rabbi Kenter) –

Other items as time allows: Finish learning aliya 1 for Shabbat (ie., combined 3 weekday Shoftim aliyot)

 

Notes

Switched from Mincha on Sat. Aug. 12 to Shabbat morning on Sat., Aug. 19 (Shoftim). Plan is for Adam to learn (new) maftir, then switch to haftara, and if there’s time after that, to finish aliya 1 (which was the old weekday date’s 3-aliyot combined into one), and learn Torah service songs. Adam may know some of them, but possibly with different tunes.