Article: A HISTORY OF THE Bat Mitzvah: Daughters of the Commandments

Sally Weinstock
Jewish Exponent
08-15-1996
A HISTORY OF THE Bat Mitzvah: Daughters of the Commandments.

Although Bat Mitzvah has existed since the second century C.E., the rite of passage into Jewish adulthood - when a girl of 12 becomes responsible for carrying out the mitzvot, or commandments - had never before been publicly observed until the Bat Mitzvah of Dr. Judith Kaplan Eisenstein. Even in May of 1992, the idea stunned mainstream Jewish society.

It also stunned the Kaplan family. "My mother's mother said [to my father's mother], `Talk to your son. Tell him not to do this!'" reported Dr. Eisenstein, who died on February of this year at the age of 86.

"`You know a son doesn't listen to ...

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