Bar/Bat Mitzvah Guide - Temple Ner Tamid

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Guidebook (v1.0) Page 7 of 16The honors for opening the ark are often given to younger and/or older members of the family.If there is a (great-) grandparent, not participating in any other way in the service, this honor isespecially suitable. Similarly, children of four or five years of age enjoy this form of participation.The combination of children and (great) grandparents is often touching. The procedure issupervised on the pulpit, so there is no need to be nervous about opening or closing the ark.PARTICIPATION OF NON-JEWS IN THE SERVICENon-Jews are not permitted to receive traditional honors. However, we are pleased that othermeans of honoring them are available. We strongly believe that non-Jewish parents who supporttheir children’s Jewish education deserve public recognition. Non-Jewish parents of a Bar/BatMitzvah may join their spouse on the pulpit after he/she has recited the Torah blessings. They mayrecite the Sheheheyanu (a universal blessing, unlike the Torah blessings, which are specificallyJewish). They may also address the Bar/Bat Mitzvah in a speech. Please consult with the Rabbi.BEING YOUR OWN ACCOMMODATORIf you or any members of your family want to be your own accommodator and choose topurchase your own food and use the Temple’s kitchen facilities (refrigerator, oven, etc) to do yourown food preparation, then the Temple’s insurance policy may not cover you for your own liabilityor negligence. This means if any Temple member or your guest becomes ill either from your food orits preparation or if an accident occurs from yourself or any of your servers (spillage, etc), then youmay be personally held responsible. Please check your personal and homeowners insurance policyfor your own protection.The Temple strongly discourages you from being your own accommodator at an eveningfunction. Better to hire a professional accommodator or caterer and enjoy your own Bar/BatMitzvah celebration that evening.As your own accommodator, you are subject to the kitchen rules the Temple has established forprofessional accommodators. This means you are allowed one day, prior to the day of your event,for your food preparation. Additional days will be charged at $25 per day. No more than 2 days willbe allowed without prior approval of the House Chairman. Your use of the kitchen will incur akitchen usage fee. In addition, an initial kitchen security deposit fee will be required prior to yourevent. This security fee will be returned to you afterwards assuming no breakage or any otherkitchen damage.The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, of which we are a member, expects adherenceto the laws of Kashruth (kosher food) at all times and at all events, programs, and celebrations. AMashgiach is a person appointed or approved by a rabbi, whose responsibility it is to preventmistakes and violations of Jewish dietary laws by supervising the preparation of kosher food. AtTemple Ner Tamid, we require a Mashgiach whenever meat or dairy is being prepared or cooked inour kitchen. This is to ensure that when Temple members and guests sit down at a meal, they knowthey are having a kosher meal. Because of the time a Mashgiach must spend with you before,during, and after your Bar/Bat Mitzvah event, you will be assigned and must pay a fee for one of ourTemple’s Mashgiach.The Mashgiach checks and verifies all food items brought into the Temple. This ensures thatthat every food product brought into the Temple has a reliable hekhsher before it is used. Ahekhsher is a certification marking symbol found on food packages that have been certified asKosher. Foods marked as kosher mean that they contain only kosher ingredients and have beenproduced in accordance with Jewish food standards. If a product doesn’t have a hekhsher, it cannotTemple Ner Tamid ● 368 Lowell Street ● Peabody, MA 01960 ● 978-532-1293templenertamid@verizon.net ● www.templenertamid.com