Mazel Tov! Ve’ahavta celebrates this pivotal right of passage, when a Jewish young adult becomes a fully-fledged member of the Jewish community, in a unique and significant way. Our cost-free program develops character through the tackling of one of society’s biggest issues: poverty and homelessness. Participants gain first-hand exposure to a part of society that they have likely never encountered before, and this exposure primes them for a lifelong understanding of the Jewish philosophical concepts of chesed (kindness), tzedakah (equality), and Ve’ahavta – loving your neighbour as yourself, as well as an appreciation for the deep impact that Judaism-in-action can have on the individual, on other people, and on our world (tikkun olam).
Looking for a deeply meaningful B’nai Mitzvah Program?
Ve’ahavta’s B’nai Mitzvah program consists of three parts:
Learning
An informal, 40-minute interactive Zoom learning session on local poverty and the Jewish values that drive its solution with the B’nai Mitzvah child and their family member(s);
Volunteering
Engagement in one of our age-appropriate volunteer programs. Most choose to volunteer on our Mobile Jewish Response to Homelessness (MJRH) outreach vans, but some choose to Make-a-Meal, Make-a-Blanket, or pack harm reduction kits.
Tzedakah
The B’nai Mitzvah child will have the opportunity to fulfill this important mitzvah by launching their own B’nai Mitzvah fundraising page and/or running a clothing/supplies drive for Ve’ahavta.
At the end of the program, the B’nai Mitzvah will receive a certificate of completion, acknowledging their work and learning.
