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Becoming a Jewish Adult

A young person reads from a Torah scroll with two adults by their side, in a ceremonial setting.

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 ritual for a girl’s first period. Includes a circle of names, blessings, candle-lighting, and gift-giving. Ritual objects include a tambourine, red ribbons, a decorative egg, a ring, candles, and red fruits.
abstract red swoosh on black background

A moonlit ceremony on the shores of a brook. Celebrates the entrance of a daughter into womanhood. Includes songs, book-giving, adapted tashlich ritual, and blessings.

moonlit pond surrounded by trees
A description of a menarche ceremony created by a woman for her daughter
new moon in pink sky at sunrise

A private ritual to honor a girl’s entrance into womanhood. Includes rainwater bubble bath, blessings, and teachings on sexual health and well-being.

bathtub with cream colored towel
A Yemenite menarche ritual for a mother and daughter.
two hands touching

Mordecai Kaplan’s daughter describes her bat mitzvah in 1922 in New York.

A wine bottle, candles, challah, and goblet on a wooden table with a dark background.
A program involving text study, the creation of blessings, and tzedakah, welcoming girls into the rich continuum of Jewish women’s experience
bat mitzvah on bima carrying torah
This list, compiled for Orthodox girls, has good ideas for anyone planning a bar or bat mitzvah.
teenaged girl smiling against blue sky
A guide to creating a meaningful ceremony within the framework of traditional Judaism
Toward a Meaningful Bat Mitzvah book by Nancy Wolfson-Moche

Various congregrations in Israel recite this prayer in synagogue for a bat mitzvah. It is adapted from the standard Siddur Rinat Yisrael.

grassy path at sunset

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

Now more than ever, we need the guidance of our ancestors, and creative expression provides a wonderful path for connection.

Express your love and gratitude for those who have profoundly shaped your journey and  summon their wisdom into your own life.

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The Reconstructionist Network