feature story
A Century After First
Bat Mit zvah,
Jewish Coming-of-Age Still Evolves
some Jewish tweens,
Judith Kaplan Eisenstein’s reality
was their worst nightmare.

Th e evening before, Eisenstein’s father,
Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, told his
daughter that she would be having a bat
mitzvah ceremony — chanting Torah and
prayers in front of the entire congregation
— giving her few hours to prepare.

Th e tight timing of the ordeal was only
one part of the anomalous situation:
Eisenstein would also become the fi rst
young Jewish woman to have
a bat mitzvah, the ceremonial
honor until then only aff orded
to young men. Previously, women
only participated in a b’nai mitzvah,
a group ceremony for young Jews,
regardless of gender.

On March 18, 1922, a Saturday
morning, Eisenstein left her seat in the
front row of the women’s section of the
Society of the Advancement of Judaism synagogue
in New York to stand on the men’s side, some distance
away from the bimah, to read from the Chumash, the
book with the printed text from the Torah.

One hundred years aft er Eisenstein became a bat
mitzvah in front of her community, her accomplishment
is being recognized, both through events honoring the
milestone and by the continuous paradigm shift the
Jewish institution of b’nai mitzvah is undergoing in
some communities.

Despite the unprecedented nature of Eisenstein’s
Jewish coming of age, the event was not particularly
controversial in the community.

Kaplan was the founder of the Reconstructionist
movement, which was defi ned by its views of Judaism as
an ever-evolving culture and religion. He had an interest
20 MARCH 17, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Dylan Tanzer as Judith Kaplan
in the suff rage movement of the time and in fi rst-wave
feminism, which advocated for the increased presence of
women in public roles.

Kaplan saw Eisenstein, his eldest daughter, as
his disciple and mentee, according to Stockton University
history professor and great-niece of Eisenstein,
Sharon Musher.

“He had four daughters and he wanted them to
participate in this rite of passage,” Musher said.

In line with his Reconstructionist sensibilities, Kaplan
took the consensus of the SAJ community, who agreed
that Eisenstein could have a bat mitzvah in front of
the congregation. Only Eisenstein’s grandmothers had
qualms with the ceremony, Musher said.

Eisenstein’s bat mitzvah had marked diff erences to the
likes of those seen today in Reform, Reconstructionist
and some Conservative spaces: She didn’t read from the
Torah scroll or wear a tallit or kippah. Eisenstein wasn’t
permitted to be on the bimah until the bat mitzvah of
her daughter Miriam many years later. Eisenstein had
a second bat mitzvah in 1992, four years before
her death.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of
Eisenstein’s bat mitzvah, SAJ - Judaism
Th at Stands for All, will host a Rise Up/
Bat Mitzvah At 100: National Shabbat
on March 17 over Zoom and in-person.

With Ironbound Films, they launched an Instagram
campaign @judithkaplan1922 to illustrate what young
Judith Kaplan’s life at 12 would have been like had she
had Instagram as a child.

Dylan Tanzer, the West Orange, New Jersey-
based actor who will play the bat mitzvah girl in
the Instagram project, believes Eisenstein was an
“inspiration to all Jewish girls now.”
Only seven months away from her own bat mitzvah
at a Reform synagogue, Dylan, 12, will read as much
of her Torah portion as she can. Learning more about
Eisenstein’s story, Dylan was shocked that the fi rst bat
mitzvah, something of an inevitability in her Jewish
upbringing, was near-unheard of a century ago.

“I cannot express that it was 100 years ago,” she said. “I
just thought it was normal; I didn’t even think about it.”
But Eisenstein didn’t just open the door for young
girls. For Jewish women not allowed to celebrate their
bat mitzvah when they turned 12, Eisenstein’s legacy
gave them a chance to fulfi ll the mitzvah later in life.

Th is year, Congregation Beth Tikvah, a Conservative
synagogue in Marlton, New Jersey, held an adult b’nai
mitzvah class to coincide with the 100-year anniversary.

“It’s by design that we’re doing it this year,” Rabbi
Nathan Weiner said.

Beth Tikvah was the fi rst Conservative congregation
to allow for bat mitzvahs that were identical to bar
mitzvahs, according to Weiner.

Th e egalitarian nature of the synagogue is what drew
congregant Bonni Rubin-Sugarman to the synagogue
more than 30 years ago.

Now 70, Rubin-Sugarman, a student in Beth Tikvah’s
adult b’nai mitzvah class, will have the bat mitzvah
ceremony she longed to have but didn’t as a tween.

Growing up with a father who was the president
of a Conservative synagogue, Rubin-Sugarman was
Background: Medina Creatives / DigitalVision Vectors ; Picture frames: alano design / iStock / Getty Images Plus
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF



Judith Kaplan Eisenstein at her second bat
mitzvah ceremony in 1992
Courtesy of
Ironbound Fi
lms aron Musher
Courtesy of Sh
Always religious, Rubin-Sugarman
said her relationship with Judaism has
changed as her June 11 bat mitzvah
date approaches.

“I consider myself a pretty spiritual
person,” she said. “And I couldn’t
imagine [the adult b’nai mitzvah
class] would enhance it, but I think
it has.”
While Rubin-Sugarman felt
like having a bat mitzvah later in
life was a way to fulfi ll a dream
from her past, SAJ Rabbi Lauren
Grabelle Herrmann is looking
to make fundamental changes
The four daughters of Rabbi Mordechai
to the
language and attitude
Kaplan as young girls
around Jewish coming-of-age that
socialized with strict gender roles. She was somewhat align with the spirit of Eisenstein’s
resentful that her brothers who played Little League bat mitzvah, which brought an
baseball and attended Hebrew school, envious of the one underrepresented gender into a new
fold of synagogue life.

Jewish girl she knew who had a bat mitzvah.

About four or fi ve years ago, Grabelle
“I thought it was wonderful — and not for the party
Herrmann — who also was the
— for what she was accomplishing,” she said. “I was just
founding rabbi
of West Philadelphia’s
in awe of what she accomplished.”
Kol Tzedek
congregation — changed all language
Aft er her confi rmation in the 10th grade, Rubin-
referring to
coming-of-age to “b’mitzvah,” a gender-
Sugarman became involved in United Synagogue Youth,
neutral term
that is
becoming more widely used in
committing to involvement in Jewish life as an adult.

many Reform
and Reconstructionist
spaces. SAJ’s
“I said to myself at 16 when I went on USY On Wheels,
gender-neutral language
is also
used when
calling up
‘I’m going to do this someday; someday, I’m going to be
individuals for
an aliyah,
regardless of
the individual’s
able to have a bat mitzvah,’ and that kind of had a huge
gender. eff ect on me,” she said.

In the past year, fi ve of the congregation’s 260 families
Rubin-Sugarman approached Weiner last year,
have had b’mitzvah for a transgender, gender non-
requesting a bat mitzvah ceremony that would take place
conforming or non-binary child.

in her 70th year of life. Her son-in-law, who recently
“It’s awesome
to feel like we’re ready to be inclusive
converted, and seven other congregants joined her.

without it being a big
deal at all,” Grabelle
Herrmann said.

In addition to the
language being
affirming, it’s also
practical in a
space where kids
and tweens are
thinking openly about
their gender, she said.

Grabelle Herrmann
had a child announce
a change in pronouns
two weeks before their
b’mitzvah. Th e family
asked what needed
to change in the
ceremony. Nothing
did, G r ab e l l e
Herrmann said.

Sharon Musher’s daughter Elena (center)
at her bat mitzvah in 2016
In a changing political and social landscape, more
than just a language update is necessary to engage Jewish
youth, Grabelle Herrmann argued.

Beyond teaching prayers and parshot to young
congregants, she’s also tasked with engaging tweens who
aren’t interested in becoming b’mitzvah or engaging
further with the Jewish community.

“I’ve had many conversations with kids who are like,
‘I’m not into this; I’m not feeling this,’ Grabelle Herrmann
said. “And I’m able to talk about: What are the reasons
people do this? Why is this important to your parents?
What can you get out of it? Th ose conversations keep
the kids engaged, even if they don’t love their b’mitzvah.

Th ey know that they can trust to talk to a Jewish adult and
spiritual fi gure.”
Th e task is in line with what Musher believes is the
true purpose of a b’mitzvah.

When she refl ects on the legacy of her great aunt,
Musher thinks beyond just the inaugural bat mitzvah.

Eisenstein became a prominent and prolifi c Jewish
composer, musicologist and educator. Th ough her bat
mitzvah was the genesis of her engagement with the
larger Jewish community, the impact of her scholarship
and commitment to Jewish life was profound aft er her
coming-of-age. “It’s really important that [b’nai mitzvahs] mark, not
the end of young people’s Jewish education,” Musher
said, “but the beginning of an adult commitment to
Jewish peoplehood.” JE
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