Bar Mitzvah Tutoring For Military Families

Military life often takes us to locations that are less than ideal for fostering a rich Jewish education for our children. I know as my children grow, I am more and more aware of the resources available to them at future duty stations. While it would be fantastic to be near a quality Jewish day school, many resources on the internet have made living in an isolated area more bearable. One such resource is MyBarmitzvahTutors.com, an online Hebrew and Bar Mitzvah tutoring website.

They contacted me here at JIG specifically to reach out to military families, stressing that they have, “immense respect for the service and sacrifice these Jewish families make for our country every day.” They are backing up their words of support by offering a discount of 15% is to military families.

The site was founded in order to reach out to Jewish families and provide them with the opportunity to learn anywhere in the world. According to Danielle Eskow, a rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the site began when, “I was tutoring a student long distance by phone and decided there must be a better way to reach students far from synagogues and families with hectic schedules that may not be able to study for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah otherwise.” Her sister, and co-founder, Marisa Gobuty further explains that, “while growing up and attending the American International School in Israel, we became very familiar with the lives of U.S. military and embassy families abroad. We knew that our program would be the perfect solution for many of these families, as well as those living on bases in the US, to experience a Bar or Bat Mitzvah.”

The goal is to provide the opportunity for every child and adult that wants to have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah to be able to do so. “We want to provide the families that serve our country, the opportunity to study and experience this meaningful milestone in a Jewish person’s life; it would be an honor to teach military families,” Danielle said.

This program revolutionizes the way that students prepare for their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, enabling them to study from the comfort of their own home via screen sharing and video conferencing. All the materials are provided to the student and his or her only task is to be ready to learn. The interactive and fun programs are loaded onto a netbook and sent to the student before the tutoring begins. Unlike other tutors, Mybarmitzvahtutors.com has no prerequisites and teaches students from any Hebrew reading level. The programs offered are Hebrew reading, Hebrew school from home, Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation, and the alternative Bat Mitzvah preparation program.

“Our program is tailored to the student’s needs and is the perfect fit for military families that are often relocated. We also provide the Hebrew school from home program, which focuses on Judaica and Hebrew learning. We can accommodate military families who may be far from a synagogue or have too busy of schedules. We make learning fun, interactive, but most importantly, convenient,” Marisa said.

To involve all family members, weekly divrei Torah, as well as Shabbat prayer tutorials, are posted on the website for everyone to learn and enjoy.