Bat Mitzvah Program
Preparation for Bat Mitzvah - Jewish Women Through the Ages
Matan’s Bat Mitzvah program brings significant meaning and content to the Bat Mitzvah year. The program includes experiential learning sessions for mothers and daughters that focus on the image and actions of Jewish women throughout the generations. The number of meetings in the program is flexible (up to 10 sessions). Every session includes a shared learning experience for mothers and daughters, based on sources, creative activities (drama, movement, art…) and a group discussion that connects the world of Jewish values to the everyday life of the girls. This is a wonderful opportunity to build Jewish identity, while strengthening the bond between mother and daughter; it is a positive experience of growth and empowerment.
For further information about programs in Israel: Tzippi Ramati – 09-7420077 (office) 052-5661389 (cell phone)
For further information about programs in the Diaspora: Rebecca Linzer – 09-7420077 (office) 052-3548886 (cell phone) batmitzvah@matan.org.il
For the Bat Mitzvah Program in Jerusalem- 02-594-4555
Bat Mitzvah Program for the religious sector
Preparation for Bat Mitzvah
Jewish Women through the Ages
A Mother-Daughter Bat Mitzvah Program in the name of Bruriah Schwartz A”H
Together we will embark on a journey in the footsteps of special women in the history of the Jewish people, from Biblical times until today. We will learn to see ourselves as the continuing links in the chain of generations, and how Bat Mitzvah constitutes another link in the same chain. At every session we will look at the personality of a different character: Rivka, Miriam, Devorah, Chana, Esther, Beruriah, Dona Gracia, the daughters of Tzlofchad, our founding mothers (from the beginning of Zionism until the dawning of the State), HaRabbanit Kapach and Nechama Leibowitz.
Mothers and daughters will meet together for meaningful study that will be based on the sources and experiential activities such as drama, movement, song, painting and more.
This is an opportunity to deepen the bond between mothers and daughters in this important year through a shared learning experience.
Bat Mitzvah Program for secular communities
Personal empowerment for mothers and daughters during the Bat Mitzvah year
Together we will embark on a journey with up to eight sessions for mothers and daughters. At each session we will explore together a well-known multidimensional female figure, from earlier ages until today. We will look at the world of values that motivated them and whether that remains relevant today.
We will begin with Bereishit (Genesis) – my name and its essence and the meaning of the Bat Mitzvah year as a transition from childhood to adulthood.
Founding mothers – Zionist women (Mania Shohat, Shlomit Kishik-Cohen, Tova Ilan, Sara Aharonson, Golda Meir, Henrietta Szold, Nechama Feinstein, Rachel Blaustein, Nomi Shemer, Shoshana Damari and more) their work and their legacy in the creation of the State and its development.
Women who shined in a period of darkness – activities at Beit HaEdut in Nir Galim / Machon Shem-Olam in Kfar HaRoeh
Who are you Beatrice de Luna? – on Jewish pride and belonging, love of the nation and mankind
Each of us is Queen Esther – to discover the forces inherent in each of us and how to realize them. The transition from being led to leading.
Introspection – about prayer, the character of Chana, meditation, gratitude for our surroundings
Deborah – a multifaceted leader. To discover the leader within me…and to give her a place in my life.
Bat Mitzvah ceremony – a moving and meaningful family event.
Each session lasts about two hours and is divided into three parts:
- Part One – “My Story” – Mothers and daughters will experience together a significant figure from the past, from a written story.
This is the stage in which it is important to us to bring mother and daughter close to each other and facilitate discourse between them (we will rely on Biblical texts that enable us to share the image of a character that is external to our lives). - Part two – (central to the program) – Character and Creativity – creative activities in which the girls experience their identity through artistic expression (drama, movement, painting and color)
- Part 3 – Who am I and what is my name – We will discover the meaning and values that we would like to incorporate into our everyday lives – (leadership, responsibility, admiration and identification, realizing hidden talent etc). We will connect all the topics we touched on during the sessions and examine their relevance to our lives today.
The journey ends with a Bat Mitzvah ceremony in the synagogue for the entire extended family. All the girls wear white, stand next to the Aron HaKodesh (Holy Ark) as was the tradition of Italian Jewry, and recite a passage connecting them to their national and personal Jewish heritage.
Bat Mitzvah Book – Halleli Nafshi
Halleli Nafshi was written to give additional meaning and to deepen the experience of the Bat Mitzvah year. There was great effort put into making the sources accessible and creating an uplifting learning experience. We put together 12 study units suited to learning in pairs: mother and daughter, two friends together, or any other combination that would make the learning fruitful and enriching. The units are suitable for study during or after the Bat Mitzvah year. Subjects are built around the cycle of the year, but they can be studied in any order. The units are stand alone, allowing for flexibility and a modular approach.
In studying the book you will find various links to the world of the contemporary young woman and the society that surrounds her. This stems from the belief that Torah is meaningful in our lives in every generation, and from the understanding that fulfilling the mitzvoth (commandments) must come from a connection to the community and working on its behalf.
Each unit has varied sources, with guidance as to meaning, questions, activities and a comic strip.
The study facilitates broad in-depth discussion, as appropriate.
We wish to open the doors of the Beit Midrash to Bat Mitzvah girls and other young women, enabling individual and paired study that deepens Torah knowledge, strengthens the connection to Torah and the acceptance of mitzvoth (commandments) with joy and love.