Harrison, 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 lessons. 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
Click here to confirm you’ve read and understood the entire handbook (required).
| DATE/TIME | GOALS | HOMEWORK ASSIGNED |
| Fr, Aug 30
11:15am-12:00pm Cantor’s office |
Intro to B’nei Mitzvah Process
Intro to Webpage Goal Setting Lesson Time |
STUDY METHOD (always have your printouts/pages in front of you)
1. In your first homework session, Listen to the assigned audio files (or assigned part thereof) at least 15 times in a row. 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. |
| Wed, Nov. 6
4:40-5:00pm |
Provide BM folder with URL, printouts
Prepare Blessing Before and After Torah reading |
Learn Blessings Before and After Torah Reading (PDF | MP3 – Before | MP3 – After) using the homework technique above. |
| Wed., Nov 13
4:40-5:00pm |
Review Torah Blessings
Prepare Torah Trope |
Learn Torah Trope like a song (using the homework technique above — lots of listening to start with!), and when you are fairly fluent at it, start focusing your eyes on the trope SYMBOLS rather than the names of the tropes so that you start associating their shapes with the notes you’re singing |
| Th, Nov 21
5-5:20pm |
Review Torah Trope
Review Torah blessings Prepare Maftir 17:24-25 Prepare Maftir 17:26 for the following week. |
Learn Maftir 17:24-25 |
| Th, Nov 28 | NO LESSON, CJG ON VACA, but please do homework at right ===> | Learn Maftir 17:26 |
| Th, Dec 5
5-5:20pm CANCELLED – CJG SICK |
|
NO LESSON TODAY, BUT PLEASE CONTINUE LEARNING:
Learn Maftir 17:27 |
| Th, Dec. 12
5:10-5:30pm (Snow!) |
Review maftir
Prepare Haftara trope |
Learn Haftarah Trope Sheet like a song, but as you get smoother at it, start looking at the SYMBOLS rather than the words, so that you get used to what the SHAPES sound like. You’ll see these shapes around the words in your actual haftarah.
When you practice your maftir, try to do it from the LEFTHAND side of the page. |
| Th, Dec 19
5-5:20pm |
Review Maftir from STA”M side
Review Haftara trope Prepare Blessing before the Haftarah. |
Review maftir, practicing the difference in trope between “b’himolo” in verse 24 and the one in verse 25. Use the audio file for verse 24 to help you think about (carefully!) the trope of the first one. |
| Th, Dec 26 | NO LESSON – WINTER BREAK,
But please do homework at right ==> |
Learn Blessing before Haftara |
| Th, Jan 2, 2025 | NO LESSON – WINTER BREAK,
But please do homework at right ==> |
Keep smoothing out Maftir and Blessing before Haftara! |
| Th, Jan 9
5-5:20pm |
Review Maftir
Review Blessing before Haftara Prepare Haftara 40:27-28 |
Learn Haftara 40:27-28
Keep reviewing maftir every week to keep it fresh! |
| Th, Jan 16
5-5:20pm |
Review Haftara to date, including the blessing before it
Prepare Haftara 40:29-31 |
Learn Haftara 40:29-31
Practice reading your maftir from the STA”M side |
| Th, Jan 23
5-5:20pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:1-2 Review maftir |
Smooth out 40:29-31
Learn Haftara 41:1-2 |
| Th, Jan 30
5-5:20pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:3-5 Review Torah blessings |
Learn Haftara 41:3-5 |
| Th, Feb 6
5-5:20pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:6-7 |
Learn Haftara 41:6-8 |
| Th, Feb 13
5-5:20pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:9-10 |
This week, Learn Haftara 41:9 |
| Th, Feb 20 | NO LESSON – CANTOR ON VACATION, but please do the homework at right ==> | Learn Haftara 41:10 |
| Th, Feb 27
CANCELED – SOCCER TRY-OUT |
NO LESSON TODAY, but please do homework at right ==>
|
Learn Haftara 41:11-12 (both verses are short) |
| **We, Mar 5
4:30-4:50pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:11-12 |
Learn Haftara 41:11-12 (both verses are short) |
| **We, Mar 12
4:40-5:00pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:13-14 (longer, b/c March break) Review Maftir Aliya from STA”M side |
Nice job adding 41:13!!
Touch up/smooth out 4:11-13 (pay attention to the trope in the recordings; and pronounce correctly: yih-yu ch’-ayin both times. Learn Haftara 41:14 |
| Th, Mar 20
|
LESSON CANCELED – CJG MED LEAVE
BUT PLEASE DO HOMEWORK AT RIGHT ===> |
Learn Haftara 41:15 (and finish up the haftara with 41:16 if you want!) |
| Th, Mar 27
5:00-5:20pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:16 Prepare Blessing 1 after haftara, first half |
Learn Haftara 41:16
Learn Blessing 1 after haftara, first half (up to emet vatzedek) |
| Th, Apr 3
5-5:20pm |
Review Haftara last page
Review Blessing 1 after haftara, first half Prepare Blessing 1 after haftara, 2nd half and blessing 2 |
I’ve added the new Haftara Blessings audio file below (in the downloads section). Use the table just like you did for your maftir and haftara.
Learn Blessing 1 after haftara, 2nd half Learn Blessing 2 after Haftara |
| Th, Apr 10
NO LESSON – NO POSSIBLE TIME TO MEET (CJG) |
NO MEETING, but please do homework at right ===>
|
Learn blessing 3 and 4 after Haftara. You have two weeks to do this as there are no BM lessons during Passover. If this is too much, learn up to halfway through blessing 4 (up to ultif-aret) |
| Th, Apr 17 | NO LESSON – PASSOVER | Keep learning Blessings after haftara! |
| Th, Apr 24
5-5:20pm |
Review Blessings after haftara
Finish blessing #4 after haftara Review Maftir with Blessings Prepare Ein Kamocha (in Torah processional) |
Touch up music notes in Blessing #2 after haftara (bimheira v’yameinu)
Finish learning blessing #4 after haftara (from Al HaKol) Finish touching up Ein Kamocha paragraph |
| Th, May 1
5-5:20pm |
Review Blessings after haftara
Review Ein Kamocha paragraph Prepare Vay’hi Binsoah |
|
| _____________ | ____________________ |
Torah/Haftarah Trope Sheet (PDF | Torah Trope MP3 | Haftara Trope MP3)
Blessings Before and After Torah Reading (PDF | MP3 – Before | MP3 – After)
Maftir Lech L’Cha – All in Gen. Ch 17 (PDF | MP3)
| 24 – 0:00 | 25 – 0:13 | 26 – 0:31 | 27 – 0:45 |
Blessing before Haftara (PDF | MP3)
Haftara Lech L’Cha (PDF | MP3) – all in Isaiah
| 40:27 – 0:00 | 28 – 0:28 | 29 – 0:58 | 30 – 1:12 | 31 – 1:26 | 41:1 – 1:54 | 2 – 2:18 |
| 3 – 2:49 | 4 – 3:02 | 5 – 3:25 | 6 – 3:42 | 7 – 3:56 | 8 – 4:25 | 9 – 4:43 |
| 10 – 5:09 | 11 – 5:35 | 12 – 5:59 | 13 – 6:22 | 14 – 6:45 | 15 – 7:09 | 16 – 7:35 |
Blessings after Haftara, KBI-style (PDF | MP3)
| #1, 1st half – 0:00 | #1, 2nd half – 1:10 | #2 – 1:38 | #3 – 1:38 | #4, 1st half – 2:37 | #4, 2nd half – 3:06 |
Shabbat Morning Torah Service (PDFs | MP3s)
Blessings before and after Torah reading – DONE
Maftir aliya – DONE (incl. from STA”M side)
Haftara Trope – DONE
Blessing before Haftara – DONE
Haftara – DONE
Blessings after Haftara – IN PROGRESS
Torah Processional – IN PROGRESS
Torah Recessional –
D’var Torah & Mitzvah Project (with Rabbi Polansky) –
Other items as time allows: Other Torah aliyot; Musaf; Hallel