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Bat Mitzvah Dance at Detroit Synagogue Goes Viral 25 Years Later

July 25, 2022

Shelby Kaufman, a native Metro Detroit Jewish woman has gone viral after the Today Show on NBC picked up her viral TikTok video, which over 7 million people watched. Shelby made a side-by-side video of her original bat mitzvah dance and a recreation of her doing the same dance 25 years later. Shelby returned to […]

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Celebrating 100 Years Since the First Bat Mitzvah

March 18, 2022

Today, March 18, 2022, marks the 100 year anniversary since the first bat mitzvah100 year anniversary since the first bat mitzvah. Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan held the first public celebration of a bat mitzvah in the United States, for his daughter Judith, on March 18, 1922, at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, his […]

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Transgender Bar Mitzvah Ceremony – They Mitzvah Challenges Jewish Traditions

March 16, 2022

In HBO’s ‘And Just Like That’ finale, a ‘they mitzvah’ challenges Jewish traditions From JTA News By Philissa Cramer February 3, 2022 The previews for the season finale of “And Just Like That,” the “Sex and the City” reboot airing on HBO, suggested that viewers would get to see a “they mitzvah.” And for most […]

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They Mitzvah – Sex & the City’s Reboot

February 25, 2022
They Mitzvah - Charlotte York - Sex and the City

In the final episodes of “And Just Like That” on HBO Max, Charlotte York-Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) helped her nonbinary child, Rock, prepare for their traditional Jewish coming-of-age ceremony. Typically (traditionally?), bar and bat mitzvahs, in which 13-year-old boys and 12-year-old (often, also 13-year-old) girls are welcomed into adulthood and called up to the Torah for the […]

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Rep. Gabby Giffords Becomes a Bat Mitzvah in Arizona Ceremony

December 2, 2021

Gabby Giffords’ bat mitzvah was as joyous and tearful as you’d expect As former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords stood before the congregation of Temple Chaverim in Tucson, Ariz., and kissed her tallit, preparing to chant from the Torah for her bat mitzvah, Rabbi Stephanie Aaron placed her hand atop Giffords’ hand, her voice rising and […]

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Bar Mitzvah A Capella Song – Parody of Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5

October 21, 2021

  The Pella performers are a wonderful a capella group who put their own bar mitzvah spin on Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger.” Check out the a capella bar mitzvah song, “Moves Like Moses.” Enjoy it.  

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Pew Report on Jewish Americans – May, 11, 2021

May 11, 2021

Here is the latest Pew Report on Jewish Americans in 2020, published by the Pew Research Center. I include this on the Mitzvah Rabbi website because many of the statistics and findings are telling when it comes to more Jewish American families choosing to celebrate their children’s bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah in alternative ways, […]

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Unaffiliated Jews Get Creative for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs

May 11, 2021

Here’s a great article from the Jewish Exponent about Unaffiliated Jews being creative with their children’s bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies: By Hilary Danailova There was no question that the Danskys of Livingston, New Jersey, were going to have their children Bar and Bat Mitzvahed. There was also no question of joining a synagogue to do so. […]

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Hosting a Virtual Bar Mitzvah

April 21, 2021

  HOSTING A VIRTUAL BAR MITZVAH OR VIRTUAL BAT MITZVAH   If you’ve decided to host a hybrid bar mitzvah or hybrid bat mitzvah with both on-site and virtual components, here are some tips to ensure the day goes smoothly and all your guests have a great time. Test equipment/video before the event. Taking the […]

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Alternative Bar Mitzvah Service with The Mitzvah Rabbi

April 11, 2021

ALTERNATIVE BAR MITZVAH AND ALTERNATIVE BAT MITZVAH IDEAS   From MyJewishLearning: Belonging to a synagogue and attending Hebrew school are not prerequisites for celebrating a bar or bat mitzvah. And we don’t just mean having a fun party. Here are some guidelines for planning a meaningful coming-of-age event with ritual and educational components for families […]

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Zoom Mitzvahs – Virtual Bar Mitzvah and Virtual Bat Mitzvah Services

March 23, 2021

From the Jerusalem Post February 28, 2021 NEW YORK – When the Bregman family was planning their son Daniel’s bar mitzvah this past November, parents Eleanor and Peter found themselves with a lot more responsibilities –and ownership – over the process than they had with the two previous bat mitzvahs they had planned. Daniel’s bar mitzvah, which […]

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Bar Mitzvah Projects During the Covid Pandemic

January 26, 2021

Community Leadership Immersive Programs: B’nai Mitzvah Projects in a Virtual World By Tali Puterman Thiago in Lynn reached into his mailbox and cautiously opened a letter from BIJAN, the Boston Immigrant Justice Accompaniment Network. BIJAN, a network of faith communities, individuals, and other activist groups working to reduce the escalating harm of our immigrant system […]

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What It’s Like to Have a Virtual Bar Mitzvah

October 6, 2020

From JewishBoston.com (by Kara Baskin): Among other things, social distancing makes large gatherings like bar and bat mitzvahs pretty much impossible. So Sudbury’s Erica Silverman, a member of Temple Shir Tikva, started a Facebook group to help families in the same boat. Why did you launch this Facebook group? The Virtual Mitzvah Planning group was […]

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Zoom Bat Mitzvah – COVID-19 Pandemic

October 6, 2020

From the Jewish Journal: I dislike technology and technology doesn’t like me. So, when my niece Kimberly (my brother Ted’s daughter), who lives in Connecticut, called to ask me if I would do her family the honor of accepting an aliyah at her daughter Julia’s Bat Mitzvah, I immediately said yes. I can’t say I […]

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Epic Zoom Bar Mitzvah

October 6, 2020

From the Jewish Daily Forward: “We could play a YouTube version of ‘Adon Olam’ to a really catchy tune!” “We could play personal messages for him from family all over the world!” “We could have an Israeli rock star sing him a song!” These were the “What ifs” that drove the conversation between me and […]

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For Some, Zoom Bar And Bat Mitzvahs Highlight ‘Most Meaningful And Memorable Moments’

October 6, 2020

From NPR: As Gabe Silverman chants his Torah portion, he’s intensely focused on every word. It’s the culmination of months of study and the high point of his Bar Mitzvah service. The same is true for almost every 12- or 13-year-old celebrating a bar or bat mitzvah. “For the Torah service, I was very nervous […]

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How to Throw a Zoom Bat Mitzvah or Zoom Bat Mitzvah

October 6, 2020

Here’s a great (and very helpful!) article in NY Magazine by Kayla Levy about how to produce a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah on Zoom, the video conferencing app that has dominated the virtual scene during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Having officiated a dozen virtual bar mitzvah and virtual bat mitzvah ceremonies already this […]

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Virtual Bar Mitzvahs During Covid-19 Coronavirus

June 18, 2020

From the New York Times Becoming a Man, Virtually We couldn’t have guests, but the bar mitzvah ceremony would go on. My son Zane celebrated his bar mitzvah this past Saturday. And to think I had been worried about a late-season snowstorm. A week and a half earlier, when it was clear that the coronavirus […]

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Virtual Bar Mitzvahs During the COVID Pandemic

April 28, 2020

Throwing candy at the computer: What celebrating your bat mitzvah looks like in the time of the coronavirus From JTA – Midway through Lila Duke’s bat mitzvah ceremony, her family’s cat made an appearance. Minnie’s interruption was one of many ways that Lila’s coming-of-age ceremony was different from what she had expected. While the 12-year-old […]

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