'Outstanding' bar mitzva speech contest launched
02/20/2013 03:46
Contest held by Education Ministry is aimed to improve teens' writing and public speaking skills.
Josh Kotz's bar mitzva at the Hurva synagogue. Photo: Deborah Kotz
The Education Ministry launched a nationwide bar and bat mitzva speech contest
this week aimed at improving teens’ writing and public speaking
skills.
The competition, called the “Outstanding Speeches Contest,”
targets sixth-graders across the country who will be writing their personal
speeches as a mandatory part of their Israeli culture and heritage classes. To
help them in this task, they will also learn about the weekly Torah portion and
other relevant material.
While students will not be graded on the
assignment, each school can decide to submit speeches to the competition which
will be held later this year.
The Education Ministry stressed that
students should write speeches connecting their personal views to Jewish
tradition and its relevance to their lives. In addition, the students will be
required to observe a clear syntax, use rich vocabulary and employ appropriate
and high-level language.
Dalit Stauber, the ministry’s director-general,
noted that the ministry strongly wishes to encourage students to engage in
creative writing and practice standing in front of an audience.
“Bar and
bat mitzva speeches are an influential step in the process of becoming mature,
and the ministry sees it fit to encourage students to write them meaningfully
while expressing their views and personal interests,” she said in a
statement.
Stauber added that she believes the competition will
strengthen the pupils’ relationships with their Jewish heritage.
The
project is “a series of programs and initiatives that the ministry is running in
order to nurture creativity as well as written and verbal expression,” she
further explained.
Tzipi Koritzky, head of the ministry’s culture
department, also expressed confidence in the “Outstanding Speeches Contest,” and
explained that writing the personal speeches symbolizes the students’ transition
from childhood to adulthood.
The Education Ministry also specified that
only schools which offer the Israeli culture and heritage classes will take part
in the competition, which does not include Arab students.