My name is Ilana Shochat, and I am married to Tal and mother to Rona. I am an occupational therapist and a group facilitator.
I learned how to read Torah and Haftarah for my bat mitzvah. I enjoyed the skills I acquired, and after a year, as is the custom at our synagogue (Hod V’Hadar in Kfar Saba) I became a teacher myself. Over a period of ten years I helped 20 boys and girls prepare for their bar/bat mitzvahs.
While I was a studying occupational therapy, I worked as a teacher in the “Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program for the Special Child” of the Conservative Movement. In this framework I worked with groups of youngsters with various disabilities (autism, cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities,etc.) I worked with each group for about six months at the end of which, we celebrated with a moving ceremony in one of the synagogues of the Masorti Movement.
I am happy to be part of this website and to contribute my voice to the project.