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Becoming an Elder

A joyful elderly woman is embraced and kissed on the cheek by a younger woman in a cozy, warmly lit room.

It is a great privilege to become an elder—to grow in wisdom and have the capacity to share it with others. We celebrate this gift with prayers, blessings, and rituals to mark our passage into the next phase of adulthood.

Latest Rituals

A complete ceremony to honor becoming a grandparent, either with the new family member’s parents and new grandchild present or from a distance
Smiling grandmother being hugged by toddler in pigtails against a black background
“Shine to me, stars. / There’s too much light.”
pinkish dark night sky with clouds and stars and person sitting on a boulder looking up at sky with headlight on their head
“My knees creak and twinge / as I bend to bless”
A person in a dark room, illuminated from above, sits with their head lowered, creating a dramatic shadow effect.

“Jacob gave his blessings, / although some say he faltered”

An elderly hand gently holding a younger hand in warm light.

“Blessed are You, God, who turns the hearts of parents toward children”

Two women sitting on a park bench, smiling and laughing, with trees in the background at sunset.

“Your birthright renews every breath”

A family stands in a field at sunset, as a child points toward the horizon.

“I imagine a field where they gather: those / grandmothers”

A person in a long, flowing dress walks barefoot along a cloudy beach shoreline.
“We have the opportunity / To become a re-creation”
A person in a flowing white dress wades through shallow, clear water, with hands visible and a sandy bottom.

“Resist the call to silence and beat your big drum”

Person with green hair and a pink bandana, sitting on a turquoise chair, viewed from the back.

Poem honoring a grandmother’s story of survival

An older woman and a younger person embrace warmly in a park setting.

The Reconstructionist Network

Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement

Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

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The Reconstructionist Network