Mitzvah Circuit Teaches Important Lessons at Hillel in Farmington Hills

When you receive a party invitation from your friend in the mail, do you:

a) tape it to the refrigerator?

b) fill it out and mail it back promptly?

c) tell your friend at school that you will be attending?

d) wait for the friend’s mom to call your parents to see if you are attending?

This question and others like it, hiding an important lesson in snarky verbiage, kicked off Joe Cornell’s Mitzvah Circuit 101 gatherings, last week at to a crowd of kids from  and this week at Temple Israel. As the leading experts on b’nai mitzvah entertainment and etiquette, Joe Cornell owners Steve Jasgur and Becca Schlussel connect with kids over what to do, what not to do and how to make every party the best one yet.

“We were asked to speak to a group of students about how to behave, respond to invitations and socialize successfully and we jumped at the chance,” Jasgur said. “It was great fun – and the kids really got into the discussion of do’s and don’ts. Then, of course, we had to add an element of fun to the night, so we gave the group a taste of the kind of Joe Cornell fun they’ll see at b’nai mitzvah parties this year.”

Joe Cornell offers the possibility for Mitzvah Circuit 101 programs at interested congregations, schools and community groups. For more information, call 248-3566-000 or write to becca@joecornell.com. 

There is also a little room for new students in the 2012-2013 Joe Cornell Dance Program.

“In preparation for the 7th-grade social scene, our dance program teaches 6th-graders social interaction and social responsibility,” Schlussel said. “This Mitzvah Circuit program is simply an extension for that 21st century cotillion-style preparation we specialize in. We all want our children to be gracious guests, but sometimes the lessons hit home more readily when conveyed by someone new.”

Joe Cornell Entertainment has been teaching middle-schoolers social dancing and etiquette for half a century. For more information, visit joecornell.com.