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05-27-09
Yonkers
"Coming of
Age" . . . Enlightening Book Presents
Alternative Method of Preparing Children for Bar
or Bat Mitzvah
Jewish youth have been taught the traditions and
teachings of their Jewish faith and heritage for
ages; perhaps it is time to update these
antiquated techniques for modern adolescents. In
his novel, Coming of Age: Judaic Religious Study
for Bar/Bat Mitzvah – Without Hebrew School! (published
by AuthorHouse),
author Gary D. Chattman offers a new and
all-encompassing way to motivate and educate
Jewish children for their bar or bat mitzvahs
while also encouraging them to remain active in
the Jewish faith.
Chattman’s method caters to the
identity-formation of young adults and provides
an inclusive, rewarding experience for all
families and children, including those of
mixed-religion families and children with
learning disabilities. Chattman writes: "Now, in
our hectic world, parents have little-to-no time
to celebrate religion; they have rebelled
against the religion of their parents and
intermarry at high rates. (Did anyone say 48% in
the last survey?) Thus, their children are left
without any religious identity. Parents are too
busy to get involved in their child’s religious
education, and thus, send them to “Hebrew
Schools” that often are irrelevant and boring.
They exist, not for the sake of their child’s
learning of identity, and what it means to be
Jewish, but to bring money into the synagogue.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—we need
temples, we need synagogues, surely. But we need
to fill up their pews with adults who have
gained an identity."
Coming of Age
shows readers how a bar or bat mitzvah at home,
rather than at a synagogue, can free them from
the innate limitations of a Hebrew school
setting. Chattman chronicles the meaning and
process of the bar or bat mitzvah ceremony,
presenting many unique ways to nurture a sense
of Jewish identity. The book also teaches
everything children need to know about their
history, holidays, customs, the Hebrew language
and prayer.
About the Author:
Chattman is a retired New York teacher and
administrator who currently spends his time
teaching piano, tutoring for college exams;
intervening in schools for kids who need
assistance and working with his bar or bat
mitzvah program. He has taught this program to
hundreds of children across the New York City
metropolitan area and officiated at more than
200 B’nai Mitzvot outside of synagogue
education.
Including Coming
of Age, Chattman has written several books to
date including If I Should Die Before I Wake,
about Jewish identity, as well as Don’t Tell me
Not To Believe: One Teacher’s Odyssey, which
tells the fictionalized true story of a teacher
in New York City. He has contributed to multiple
magazines, newspapers and other publications on
the subject of Jewish education. He currently
lives in Yonkers, N.Y. with his wife of 38
years. Chattman has two adult children; his
daughter is a teacher and his son is media
manager for a music school as well as a
published author. His grandson, Ryan, is 3 ½
years old. |
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