Adult Bat Mitzvahs
The Adult Bat Mitzvah Oral History Project preserves the experiences of selected women in the Boston area who participated in an adult bat mitzvah ceremony. In documenting their unique stories, the project reveals and celebrates the journeys that led these women to participate in the bat mitzvah ceremony (usually conducted at age twelve or thirteen) later in life; examines the impact of the adult bat mitzvah experience on their personal growth, spiritual connection, and cultural identity; and explores the broader societal and cultural factors that have influenced the rising trend of adult bat mitzvah celebrations. These interviews were conducted by Shayna Rhodes, then a rabbinical student and now a rabbi, as part of her rabbinic internship at JWA in 2005.