Rabbi Howard Morrison

On March 18, 1922, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan officiated and celebrated the first North American Bat Mitzvah ceremony, that of his daughter, Judith Kaplan. The roots of celebrating a Bat Mitzvah had already been planted in some particular communities

in the 19^th century. For example, Joseph Hayyim Eliyahu ben Moshe of Baghdad wrote: "And also the daughter on the day that she enters the obligation of the commandments . . . will be one of happiness. She should wear Sabbath clothing and if she is able to do so she should wear new clothes and recite Shehecheyanu and be ready for her entry to the yoke of the commandments"

A Bat Mitzvah ceremony held in the synagogue was already celebrated in Lvov in 1902 by rabbi Dr. Yehezkel Caro, known as "rabbi for the enlightened Jews." Elsewhere in communities found in Italy, Poland, and France, there were Bat Mitzvah celebrations in the 19^th century prior to the first North American celebration in 1922.

In Talmudic times, Bar and Bat Mitzvah were age acquisitions for the performance of mitzvot. The Bar Mitzvah ceremony as we know it today developed in the Middle Ages with the rituals of tallit and tefillin, an aliyah to the Torah, reciting a Biblical text, and delivering a Dvar Torah.

With the isolated examples of Bat Mitzvah celebrations in the 19^th century coupled with the Bat Mitzvah celebration of Judith Kaplan in the United States in 1922, Bat Mitzvah ceremonies have developed in an array of forms and styles depending on one's denominational affiliation and one's ideological beliefs. As a young boy growing up in a Modern Orthodox community, I attended Bat Mitzvahs where the twelve year old would deliver a Dvar Torah and lead zemirot at a Shabbat or melaveh malkah feast. 

In my rabbinic career, I have officiated Bat Mitzvahs in the context of a late Friday night service, a Kabbalat Shabbat service, a Shabbat morning service, a Havdalah service, or a Sunday creative service. In all of these fomats, the Bat Mitzvah celebrant would recite designated prayers, chant a Haftarah, and deliver a Dvar Torah. In recent years, I have officiated a family service on a Monday, Thursday, Rosh Chodesh, or Chanukah where the Bat Mitzvah celebrant has received an Aliyah and chanted Torah.

Even within denominations, the framework for celebrating Bat Mitzvah has evolved. In Open Orthodoxy, one might have celebrated in the context of a woman's tefila in recent decades. Nowadays, one might celebrate in the style of a Partnership Minyan.

JOFA (Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance) has come up with many creative suggestions for Bat Mitzvah celebrations in a liberal Orthodox framework. 

In many Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative communities, the Bat Mitzvah ceremony mirrors the Bar Mitzvah ceremony. Should the ritual for entering a boy and girl into Jewish maturity be uniform or distinctive? At Beth Emeth, we continue to provide diverse and pluralistic ways for a Bat Mitzvah to be celebrated.

Regardless of how one ritually celebrates a Bat Mitzvah, it is right to publicly celebrate a young woman's rite of passage, as we do with a young man's rite of passage. It is proper that we recognize and commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the first North American Bat Mitzvah celebration - March 18, 1922-2022.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Howard Morrison