What could be more ingrained in the Jewish psyche as well as pop culture everywhere than the Bnei Mitzvah ceremony?

For generations, families have joined synagogues and schlepped their kids to lessons. These hapless pre-teens struggle with cracking voices and unfamiliar melodies, fight with their parents about time spent practicing, and eventually face a couple hundred of their closest friends and relatives to sing for a couple hours in a foreign language. The current model of Bnei Mitzvah training does not resonate with most 13-year-old kids. They do it because they know they have to do it. Their parents and grandparents went through the same thing.

Its time to re-evaluate how our kids learn and prepare to be knowledgeable and engaged members of the Jewish community.Raising the Bar Mitzvah is the book that will lead Jewish professionals as well as lay congregants on a more productive and meaningful path.

Cantor Matt Axelrod is the author ofSurviving Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah: The Ultimate Insiders Guide andYour Guide to the Jewish Holidays: From Shofar to Seder.Cantor Axelrod serves as a national officer of the Cantors Assembly and has been a frequent presenter at synagogues, Jewish community centers, and conferences to speak to groups of parents and teens about the process of preparing for their Bnei Mitzvah.