ELOISE, use this page 3-4 times each week to prepare for your Bat Mitzvah. To ensure simcha success, please use the tools and downloadable items provided here to learn and practice your training assignments between lessons. For questions, e-mail me at cantor@kehillatbethisrael.com or call/text me at 613-327-3984. It is your responsibility to check this page to ensure it’s working properly right after each lesson, and let Cantor Green know if there’s a problem right away.
VERY IMPORTANT – MUST READ: KBI B’nei Mitzvah Handbook ONLINE
Click here to confirm you’ve read and understood the entire handbook (required).
| DATE/TIME | GOALS | HOMEWORK ASSIGNED |
| We, Aug 21, 2025
4:50-5:40pm Cantor’s Office |
Intro to B’nei Mitzvah Process
Date Selection Intro to Webpage Goal Setting Lesson Time |
STUDY METHOD (always have your printouts/pages in front of you)
1. In your first homework session, Listen to the assigned audio files (or assigned part thereof) at least 15 times in a row. Let it sink in! Best practice is to listen a couple more times in a second sitting before trying to sing along. 2. Sing along with the audio files many times until it is identical, smooth and confident. If there are glitches, use the slider to “rewind” and review a word or two at a time until identical. You’ll know you’re ready for step 3 when the audio recording feels too slow or is ‘holding you back’. 3. Sing the whole assignment without the audio file (as you will in your next lesson). Use this approach every week, and knock my socks off with how well you know it! AND, 4. every week, you MUST review at least once, everything learned to date, and FIX any glitches. |
| Th, Nov 6
5:20-5:40pm |
Provide Bat Mitzvah materials folder
Prepare Blessing Before and After Torah reading |
Learn Blessings Before and After Torah Reading (PDF | MP3 – Before | MP3 – After) |
| Th, Nov 13
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Torah Blessings
Prepare Torah Trope |
Learn Haftara Trope sheet using the homework technique above.
Please focus more on the symbols of each trope rather than the words on the trope sheet (which are the names of each trope, BTW), because it’s those “shapes” and colours that you’ll see in your Torah reading. |
| Th, Nov 20
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Torah Trope Sheet
Prepare Maftir 17:24-25 |
Learn Maftir 17:24-25 |
| Th, Nov 27
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Maftir to date, with Torah blessings
Prepare Maftir 17:26-27 |
1. Learn Maftir 17:26-27
2. Smooth out the following:
|
| Th, Dec 4
5:20-5:40pm |
Review maftir
Prepare Haftara Trope |
Learn Haftara trope like a song. Look much more at the symbols than the words (the names of the tropes). |
| Th, Dec 11
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara trope
Prepare Blessing before Haftara |
Learn Blessing before Haftara |
| Th, Dec 18
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Maftir Review Blessing before Haftara
Prepare Haftara 40:27 and 40:28 up to shamata |
CJG CANCELLED LESSON – CHANUKAH |
| Th, Jan 15
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Maftir
Review Blessing before Haftara Prepare Haftara 40:27 and 40:28 up to shamata |
Practice Maftir from the LEFTHAND side of the page (Torah side). Try and remember the first b’himolo is not the same trope as the second one, so you can use the audio file to remind you if you’re having any trouble with it.
Learn Haftara 40:27 and 40:28 up to shamata |
| Th, Jan 22
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Maftir from LEFTHAND side
Review Haftara to date with blessing before it Prepare Haftara rest-of-40:28 and 40:29 |
Learn Haftara rest-of-40:28 and 40:29 |
| Th, Jan 29
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 40:30-31 and 41:1 up to yachalifu cho-ach |
Learn Haftara 40:30-31 and 41:1 up to yachalifu cho-ach |
| Th, Feb 5
5:20-5:40pm ZOOM – (CJG ill) |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara rest-of-41:1, and 41:2 up to l’raglo |
Learn Haftara rest of 41:1 and 41:2 up to l’raglo
Go back and smooth out from 40:30 to the l’raglo. |
| Th, Feb 12
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara rest of 41:2 |
Learn Haftara rest of 41:2
Smooth out the words/phrases we circled to fix the tropes – use the audio file to practice each, and the goal will be to transition from one pasuk to the next with these “repaired” notes, confidently. |
| Th, Feb 19
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:3 |
First, learn Haftara 41:3 (short!)
Then, go back to the highlighted beginnings of sentences and use the audio file intensively to “retrain” your brain on the correct trope (melody). That will also help you feel more confident overall! |
| Th, Feb 26
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date (paying attention to highlighted tropes)
Prepare Haftara 41:4 |
Learn Haftara 41:4
If you have time and 41:4 is in great shape, learn 41:5 |
| Th, Mar 5
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:6 and 41:7 up to tov hu. |
Review Haftara 41:1 to get the tropes the same as in the audio file.
Finish learning Haftara 41:5. Make sure the first two words’ tropes are sung like the audio file (ie., go back and get used to those notes) Learn Haftara 41:6 |
| Th, Mar 12 | NO LESSON – CANTOR AT CONVENTION, but please do the homework at right ==> | Learn Haftara 41:7 |
| Th, Mar 19
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:8 and 41:9 up to k’raticha. |
Fix the trope of 41:2 – yitein ke-afar charbo. Use the audio file and drill it in! List 10-15 times, sing along another 8-10 times, and that should do it. Also, 41:5 starts with the same 3 tropes. Spend some time on that one too.
Learn Haftara 41:8 and 41:9 up to k’raticha. Take your time pronouncing these long words as you learn. |
| Th, Mar 26
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara rest-of-41:9 and 41:10 up to elohecha. |
Learn rest-of-41:9, 41:10, and 41:11.
You have three weeks to do this before our next lesson. |
| Apr 2 & 9 | NO LESSONS – PASSOVER | Keep working on the above homework! |
| Th, Apr 16
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare Haftara 41:12, and 41:13 up to y’minecha |
Spend some time smoothing out the notes for 41:2: yitein l’fanav goyim…yitein ke-afar charbo. Use the audio file, and really think about what it takes (how it feels in your throat) to sing the second “yitein” correct. You have to go up one note from “yard”, and then go quite far down for “tein”.
Learn Haftara 41:12, and 41:13 up to y’minecha |
| Th, Apr 23
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Work on Mapach Pashta trope combinations |
Circle all occurrences of Mapach Pashta > ‘
Go back to the audio file for EACH ONE, and practice the transition into it from the word following the previous red trope. |
| Th, Apr 30
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date for Mapach Pashta phrases
Prepare Haftara rest-of-41:13 and 41:14 |
Learn Haftara rest-of-41:13
Go back and sing with the audio file 40:27-28 (you know this well, so it’s just to help us form a new habit and success curve. We’ll do this kind of review weekly. |
| Th, May 7 | NO LESSON – CANTOR AT EDUCATION CONFERENCE | Keep working on the above homework. |
| Th, May 14
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara from 40:27-28
Review Haftara 40:29 Prepare Haftara 41:14 Go back to review Haftara 41:1 and in 41:2, touch up notes of yitein ke-afar charbo. |
First, learn Haftara 41:14
Then, smooth out, using the same technique as for new homework, Haftara 41:1 and in 41:2, touch up notes |
| Th, May 21 | NO LESSON – EREV SHAVUOT | Keep working on the above homework. |
Th, June 4 5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara from beginning to 41:2
Keep reviewing from 41:3 on Prepare Haftara 41:15 Review maftir with Torah blessings |
Learn Haftara 41:15
As you’re practicing the whole haftara, take special not of words with a “sof pasuk” trope, and make sure you sing them all as musical phrase endings (ie, the sof pasuk sound), and that you don’t try to attach the next word onto them. Review Maftir aliya (use audio file to get you re-started) |
| Th, Jun 11
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara to date
Prepare haftara 41:16 Prepare 1st half of blessing 1 after the haftara |
Learn Haftara 41:16
There’s no lesson next week, but please do the homework below. |
| Th, Jun 18 | NO LESSON – Cantor away, but please to the homework at right ==> | Learn Blessing 1 after the haftara, 1st half, up to emet vatzedek |
| Th, June 25
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara
Review Blessing 1 after haftara, 1st half. No new material – Eloise off to camp! |
|
| SUMMER BREAK – ELOISE AT CBB | Practice everything learned so far at camp. | |
| Th, Aug 20
ZOOM TODAY (from PEI) 10:30-10:50am |
Review Haftara
Review blessing 1 after haftara 1st half Prepare blessing 1 after haftara 2nd half |
Learn blessing 1 after haftara 2nd half. Listen even more than the basic 15 times to “achor lo-yashuv reikeim”` |
| Tu, Aug 25
4-4:20pm IN-PERSON |
Review Blessing 1 after Haftara
Prepare Blessing 2 after Haftara Review Haftara with blessing before |
Touch up (ie., finish learning) 2nd half of blessing 1 after haftara.
Learn Blessing 2 after haftara. |
| Th, Sept 3
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Blessings after haftara to date
Prepare Blessing 3 after haftara Work on Haftara verse 10 to get trope confident |
Learn Blessing 3 after the haftara. If the whole blessing is too much, stop at et k’vodo. But do challenge yourself to learn the whole blessing well!
Smooth out tropes of Haftara 41:10. Go back and use the audio file. It will probably not take as long to re-input it as it did the first time. This will help with confidence and of course, correct trope. |
| Th, Sep 10
5:20-5:40pm |
Review blessings after Haftara to date
Prepare Blessing 4 after haftara, first half and 11, and 16 for trope (note though that you’ll work on one of these upgrades at a time. |
Learn Blessing 4 after haftara, first half
Re-study Haftara 41:10 using the audio file. Do a lot of singing along! |
| Th, Sep 17
NO LESSON |
Eloise at OJCS Retreat. | No new homework, but use the beginning part of this week to complete the above homework (particularly the Haftara verse |
| Th, Sep 24 | NO LESSON TODAY (CJG DAY OFF), but please do homework at right ===> |
Learn Haftara blessing 4, second half
Work on 41:10 to make sure you’re doing the same tropes (musical notes) as the audio file. Basically use the homework technique in the top box of this column, like you’re “re-learning” it from scratch. |
| Th, Oct 1
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara Blessings (all)
Review Haftara from 41:8 to the end (esp. 41:10 for trope) |
1. Smooth out each of the 4 blessings after the haftara, sequentially. Make sure each is smooth before going on to the next. Use the audio files to correct and lock-in anything that is tripping you up.
2. Re-focus on Haftara 41:10 to get the trope (tune) right for ki ani elohecha, and af t’mach-ticha bi-min tzid-ki. |
| Th, Oct 8
5:20-5:40pm |
Review Haftara blessing
Review Haftara 41:8 to the end |
Review Blessings after haftara again. If you need to pause and think, that’s fine, but don’t say any English words! 🙂
In blessing 1:
In blessing 3:
In blessing 4:
|
| Th, Oct 15
5:20-5:40pm LAST LESSON!! |
Review Blessings after Haftara | REVIEW EVRERYTHING AND MAKE IT SMOOTH
For full runthrough next week, please bring your entire folder AND your tallit AND your speech/D’var Torah. |
| Th, Oct 22
DRESS REHEARSAL DAY! |
7:15am – Tallit & T’filin with Cantor
7:30am – Minyan & First Aliya! 8:45am – Breakfast with Minyannaires (a sponsorship opportunity) 9:10 – Full Runthrough on Bimah |
|
| ________________ | ____________________ |
Torah / Haftarah Trope (PDF | Torah Trope MP3 | Haftara Trope MP3)
Blessings Before and After Torah Reading (PDF | MP3 – Before | MP3 – After)
Maftir Lech L’Cha – All in Gen. Ch 17 (PDF | MP3)
| 24 – 0:00 | 25 – 0:13 | 26 – 0:31 | 27 – 0:45 |
Blessing before Haftara (PDF | MP3)
Haftara Lech L’Cha (PDF | MP3) – all in Isaiah
| 40:27 – 0:00 | 28 – 0:28 | 29 – 0:58 | 30 – 1:12 | 31 – 1:26 | 41:1 – 1:54 | 2 – 2:18 |
| 3 – 2:49 | 4 – 3:02 | 5 – 3:25 | 6 – 3:42 | 7 – 3:56 | 8 – 4:25 | 9 – 4:43 |
| 10 – 5:09 | 11 – 5:35 | 12 – 5:59 | 13 – 6:22 | 14 – 6:45 | 15 – 7:09 | 16 – 7:35 |
Blessings after Haftara, KBI-style (PDF | MP3)
| #1, 1st half – 0:00 | #1, 2nd half – 0:31 | #2 – 1:11 | #3 – 1:38 | #4, 1st half – 2:37 | #4, 2nd half – 3:06 |
Shabbat Morning Torah Service (PDFs | MP3s)
Blessings before and after Torah reading – DONE
Torah Trope – DONE
Maftir aliya – DONE
Haftara Trope – DONE
Blessing before Haftara – DONE
Haftara – DONE
Blessings after Haftara – DONE
D’var Torah (with Rabbi Rose) – DONE