Judith Kaplan, at age twelve, became the first woman to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah on March 18, 1922. Judith was the oldest daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism. Believing that girls should have the same religious opportunities as their brothers, Rabbi Kaplan arranged for his daughter to read Torah on a Shabbat morning at his synagogue, the Society for the Advancement of Judaism.
100 years in Jewish history is not a very long time, of course. And yet, the 100th anniversary of the first-ever bat mitzvah offers us an opportunity to reflect on how much the world, and the Jewish world, have changed since then.
The revolutionary act of a BAT mitzvah did not immediately change the Jewish world – it took a while for various Jewish movements to fully embrace this life cycle moment in all its beauty (each within its own understanding and style). At one point, as bat mitzvah celebrations became common in Reform and Conservative synagogues, many of the women who grew up in the previous generations embraced the new ritual and celebrated Bat Mitzvah as adults – learning to read from the Torah and taking their rightful place on the bimah. At Temple Emanuel, a few groups of women joined the Bat Mitzvah class with Rabbi Brieger in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, and many of the wonderful Torah chanters who regularly take on this holy task at TE were trained as part of that effort and got to celebrate this special occasion as part of a larger group, forming life-long friendships in the process.
In addition, generations of Jewish women grew up celebrating this life cycle event by learning to chant and being called up to the Torah, same as the boys, in a truly egalitarian manner. At Temple Emanuel we are blessed to have the mixture of chanters on our bimah, both the ones who had their bar and bat mitzvah at the age of 13, and those who only had the opportunity to do so as adults (I, of course, am included in that latter category, having celebrated my Bar Mitzvah at the age of 27, the day before my Rabbinic ordination – but that is a different story).
As we celebrate this special anniversary on March 18th, I have invited all the women who celebrated their adult b’not mitzvah at TE to share an aliya together, a mini reunion. Another aliya will be shared by many of those girls and women who grew up at TE (or other synagogues) and had their b’not mitzvah ceremonies at 13. I hope that you mark your calendars and join us for this very special occasion, celebrating the reality that was once revolutionary, and now very much a part of Jewish life!
The world continues to change, and we continue to evolve with it. While these days we don’t think about Bat Mitzvah as something unusual, there are new realities that warrant our consideration: how do we welcome teens (and adults) to encounter the Torah while recognizing their different understanding of gender, and what adjustments to the language and the ritual we need to consider to make these rituals inclusive and welcoming. We stand on the shoulders of giants; our ancestors did not shy away from the challenges they faced, and we are all able to experience the richness of our tradition in a deeper and more meaningful way as a result. I am confident that we will continue to engage with both modernity and tradition, constantly shaping and renewing our commitment to Jewish life and practice.
I know that there are a number of TE members who have not had a b’nei mitzvah celebration – some did not grow up Jewish and converted to Judaism as adults; others grew up in Jewish families that were not part of a religious community; others perhaps did not have a ceremony for a different reason. I would like to use this anniversary of the first Bat Mitzvah to offer an invitation: if you would like to join the Adult B’nei Mitzvah class at Temple Emanuel this coming year, to learn to chant from the Torah and to celebrate this special ritual, please send me a note – I think the time has come for us to have this special program at TE once again!