Becoming a Jewish Adult

The path to adulthood is full of twists and turns. From celebrating a bar/bat mitzvah to leaving home for the first time, this is a journey fraught with new freedom, new responsibilities, and an abundance of complex emotions. We offer blessings, prayers, and rituals that help parents and children use a Jewish vocabulary to describe this journey—and to experience it as richly as possible.

Latest Rituals

A Prayer of Thanks After Your Child’s B’nei Mitzvah When You’re Divorced

Our family, so shattered, so seemingly broken, was given new life today.

B Mitzvah, divorce, gratitude, joy, miracle

a person in a purple tallit gathers the four tzit-tzit in their hands

Stand Tall: A Bar Mitzvah Blessing

“Today you stand before us and make us proud…”

Bar Mitzvah, blessing

an oak tree with a brown trunk and green leaves stands in foreground

Tefilat HaDerekh: Driving You to Your Wedding. Coming Home Without You.

A beautiful wedding day prayer from parent to child.

parenting, weddings

Threefold Benediction on the Occasion of a Bar/Bat/B*Mitzvah

An interpretive version of the Threefold Benediction.

B Mitzvah, Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah, priestly blessing

Adult B’nei Mitzvah Mikveh Ritual

This ritual is designed for an adult B’nei Mitzvah cohort in advance of their service.

adult b'nei mitzvah, mikveh

How You Will Fledge

“I, my child, / will never tire / of bringing you / morning worm…”

parenting

Today, and Maybe Only Today: a Reflection on Moving Out of an Unsafe Home

“Today, as I affix mezuzot, as I say the shehekhayanu, / As I step into a new chapter of my life, / I take this moment to acknowledge / That my life is about to change.”

abuse, healing, moving, shehekheyanu

Prayer for bringing a child to overnight summer camp

“I’m proud of you, my child, for the courage to step away from family and familiarity / For venturing out to meet new people, try new things, discover a new You.”

camp, parent, travel