It's common knowledge that the Bat-Mitzvah ceremony is an American innovation dating back to 1922 when Judith Kaplan, daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan -- founder of the Reconstructionist Movement -- celebrated her Bat Mitzvah.
What most people don't know is that as far back as the Renaissance, Italian Jewry had a very liberal view of women and their role in Judaism. This information has been brought to light by Dr. Aliza Lavie, author of the bestselling book A Jewish Woman's Prayer Book, through her new study: Women's Customs: A Journey of Jewish Customs, Prayers and Stories. One of the revelations Lavie brings to light is that the first Bat Mitzvah was the brainchild of 19th century Verona Italy's Rabbi, Isaac Pardo. Through her research Lavie discovered that this was an annual communal ceremony held on Shavuot. The 12-year old girls wore white and entered the synagogue's men's section as part of a procession accompanied by a choir singing the Song of Deborah from the Book of Judges.
I'm not sure when this practice unfortunately faded from the scene, but Rabbi Pardo's great grandson -- Yonatan Bassi -- reports that his 100+ year-old mother still remembers every detail of her Bat Mitzvah. True, the above description indicates that the girls were not called up to the Torah. Still, it was a major gender breakthrough, especially considering the minimal role Jewish women around the globe had at that point in time.
For this Shavuot, where does this leave you, your daughters and students? An opportunity to talk about the role girls and women have/should have in the Jewish tradition. We know that Rosh Chodesh has traditionally been considered a female celebration. Now we can add Shavuot. What next?
Synagogue photo credit
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