Why?

Our culture has lost the true meaning of what it means to be a man. Masculinity is poopooed and sensitivity and femininity are exalted. Thankfully God never loses anything and we have His Word to light our path. 

How would God have us teach our sons to be men of God?  First and foremost, we must lead them by our example. Day in and day out. But is there more we could do to support the high calling of raising our sons into men?  We believe there is a gap in many of our son’s lives today, perpetuated by the hyper individuality of the American culture today (Mansfield). Even in the church. 

When a Jewish boy turns 13, it is a celebrated moment in his life. It’s called Bar Mitzvah.  It’s a coming of age moment, effectively marking him as a man going forward. These young men must keep the commandments, can testify in court, and even marry.  In the ceremony, they are also called up to the Torah to recite a blessing. 

Bar Manzvah was born out this tradition, and several others. For one weekend a year men and their sons will get out into the wilderness to celebrate and cultivate what it means to be a man of God. We will eat good, play hard, and train our boys. There will be workshops (knife sharpening, shooting, fire building, etc) to teach manly skills. There will be team building and challenges. There will be manly fellowship and Bible teaching. And there will be ceremony. Boys turning 10 years of age the previous year (older sons can be grandfathered as well) will be initiated into the Gibborim.  There will be an examination (with questions about what it means to be a man), a reciting of a verse and creed, and finally a presentation accompanied by celebration. Ultimately, the young man will be presented an engraved knife by his father and identified as a Gibbor. 

Gibbor is short for ‘îš gibbôr hayil, and literally means a ‘man of standing.’  It Is Hebrew, and the basis of the phrase “Mighty Man.”

Before this event takes place we (dads) will all get together for a meeting to go over the details and preparations to be made. The vision for this is for it to be a blessing; a fun opportunity for men to lead their sons. So we will spend some time getting synced up and prepared in order to make this a special weekend for our boys.