Customary/Ritual

Jewish Bat Mitzvah

NK

Massachusetts, U.S.

November 2nd, 2020

Informant Data:

NK is a senior at Dartmouth College, where she is a neuroscience major on the pre-med track. She was born and raised in Massachusetts by two Ashkenazi Jewish parents and with a younger sister. She attended an all-girls private school with a very small Jewish student population. However, all her life her family was active in the reform Jewish community – NK attended Hebrew school twice a week as a child and was active in her synagogue Youth Choir.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: Bar and bat Mitzvahs, bar for boys and bat for girls, is a large celebration in Jewish culture that occurs at the age of 13 (or sometimes 12, for girls) which celebrates a child’s entrance into Jewish adulthood. It marks the beginning of their Torah studies and their active participation in Jewish adult rituals thereafter.

Social Context: The celebration consists of three parts – a religious ceremony, a formal lunch, and a party. The child spends up to a year beforehand learning and practicing her Torah portion to read on the bimah – a raised platform in the synagogue – in front of their friends and family. The length of the service varies, but for reform Jews it’s usually short, around an hour and a half. The child also wears a talit, or a special fringed shawl, which is often passed down within the family. The lunch usually consists of a few close relatives and family friends and involves a candle-lighting ritual or some other variation to honor important individuals in the child’s life. Though the family also attends, the following party is much more focused on the child’s friends and peers, and includes a lot of food, games, and dancing.

Item:

This information is paraphrased from notes taken during NK’s Zoom interview.

To celebrate their thirteenth birthday, Jewish girls have a bat mitzvah, which includes a ceremony in the synagogue where they read the Torah and give a personal speak, a post-ceremony lunch with a small group of close family and friends, and a large, exuberant party, usually at night. For the Jewish girl, picking out the dress and the talit (if it is not a family heirloom, and must be bought) are very important pre-celebration rituals. The party usually has a theme – in NK’s case, she did a color scheme: blue, purple, and green. NK worked with party planners beforehand to set up decorations, including unique, personalized centerpieces on all the tables. The party room also included a large dance floor and a photo booth. People brought in their gifts during the party, and monetary gifts are the most traditional, though jewelry for girls is common as well.

Allison Hufford, 21

Dartmouth College

RUSS 13

Fall 2020