13 mitzvot challenge

The 13 Mitzvot Challenge is designed to round out the experience of a student preparing for their Mitzvah ceremony. Becoming an adult in Jewish community is far more than learning to read Hebrew, chanting trope, and writing a d'var.  With these Mitzvot the students get to know themselves, their family, and the Jewish community, each in their own way.  

Mitzvot for yourself

1. Add a healthy habit to your daily routine: food, exercise, or sleep.

2. If you have a Hebrew name, discover something about its meaning. If you don’t, embark on a journey to choose one.

3. Try a new Jewish food.

4. Read a Jewish related book recommended by a friend, teacher, Rabbi David, or a parent: if they haven’t made a recommendation to you then ask them for one. 

Mitzvot for your family

5. Commit to doing a chore consistently around the house.

6. Plan and make/or help make a healthy meal  for your family once a month.

7. Write a letter of gratitude to your parents and share it with them.

8. Learn about your family’s Jewish origins and create a lasting record for future generations.
 

Mitzvot for your community (local and/or wider)

9. Deepen your relationship with a member of your Mitzvah cohort. Spend time with them, organize an activity with them, learn more about them. 

10. Do something to support JCOGS.

11. Go to the Remember Us website and choose a child who having perished in the Holocaust, never had a mitzvah ceremony.

12. Identify something you have always wondered about Israel and spend time researching or finding out more about it.  Share your discovery with someone else.

13. Identify and execute a Mitzvah project where you do something to benefit the lives of individuals that you might not even know; what do you think will make the world a better place?