I’m growing excited about my latest assignment; I’ll be adapting one of my rabbi’s sermon series into a children’s curriculum. This will be a great chance to get a look at how much research went into a twenty-sermon series; what was used, what was left on the table and how that material was incorporated.
Maintaining his “voice” in the teaching will be important, but so will adapting the material to the target age group; too often, children’s curriculum are either aimed for the teachers exclusively and written well beyond the understanding of kids, or they are so over-simplified, only pre-K kids could gain anything from them.
While it may seem to be a simple task, from browsing the sources cited and deciding what to keep and what to toss, to even something as obscure as deciding if a Symbol LS2208 is a typo or an integral part of the teaching, it’s sure to be a demanding task from which I’ll gain a great “behind the scenes” perspective on formulating a long teaching series.
First communion invitations are not a concern for messianics, as we do not celebrate such a thing; however, we do celebrate bar and bat mitzvah as our young boys and girls enter their teen years, so there is a parallel invitation need.
Bar mitzvah happens for boys around the time they turn 13; bat mitzvah happens for girls around the time they turn 12. What does this mean? Let’s break it down. Mitzvah is a word that traditionally means “commandment” in both Hebrew and Aramaic, although it can alternatively also be translated as “good deed” or “righteous act,” which are simply shadings of the same root meaning. “Bar” means “son of” in Aramaic and “bat” means “daughter of” in Aramaic. So, in essence, the celebration could be translated either, “son of the commandment,” or, more loosely, “son of righteousness.” Similarly with girls, it would be “daughter of the commandment” or “daughter of righteousness.”
Basically, it is a coming of age celebration, but with a spiritual connotation. From a messianic perspective, it celebrates the age of maturity, when young men and women have studied Torah enough to have their own basic understanding of sin and righteousness, so that they are without excuse. It celebrates the time at which young people must become responsible for their own behavior, choosing what is righteous and pleasing to Adonai over what us unrighteous and sinful.
It is not, as many messianics believe, a full license into adulthood. Children in their teen years are still in need of some direction and assistance in making their way through the challenges of life and becoming prepared for full adult responsibilities; all a bar or bat mitzvah signifies is that no longer can they claim they did not know right from wrong.
One of the most rewarding activities I have been involved in over the past few months has been teaching the pre-teens during Saturday service at my church. I’ve found a decent approach where I’m strict enough to get their respect, but I can still find constructive ways to build fun into the experience.
One way has been to finish off teaching times with a game-show style review of recent lessons. Usually doing a boys versus girls structure adds to the fun. Sure, I don’t offer prizes like tooth-rotting candy or tonneau covers for vehicles they’re too young to own. But the bragging rights for a week seem to be enough to generate excitement.
The great thing about a game-show style review is that it gets them back into the material in a way that they feel is fun. It gets them to pay attention, and that’s the goal.
