Judaism Unbound Episode 375: Bat Mitzvah’s 100th Birthday - Carole Balin, Judith Rosenbaum
Carole Balin and Judith Rosenbaum, who each played a key role in the Jewish Women's Archive’s Bat Mitzvah at 100 initiative, join Dan and Lex to talk through the history of Bat Mitzvah, its contemporary iterations, and some of its possible futures.
This episode is the 1st in an ongoing mini-series of Judaism Unbound episodes, honoring Bat Mitzvah's 100th anniversary, and exploring the present and future of B Mitzvah ("B Mitzvah" is a term for Jewish coming-of-age ceremonies, across the gender spectrum).
[1] Learn more about Bat Mitzvah at 100 by visiting JWA.org/batmitzvah100. For a full bio of Carole Balin, click here, and for Judith Rosenbaum’s bio, click here.
[2] Listen in to Judith Rosenbaum’s previous appearances on Judaism Unbound via Episode 238: Jewish Women’s Archive - Judith Rosenbaum and/or American Jewish History Unbound #6: Emma Goldman - Judith Rosenbaum.
[3] Judith Kaplan’s bat mitzvah instagram account can be found @judithkaplan1922!
[4] Balin mentions Felicia Lamport, who had one of the first American bat mitzvahs, and went on to become a well-known poet. Learn more about her here.
[5] A couple Bat Mitzvah-related episodes of TV shows get a shout-out. Check out “Mazel Tov, Libby” (an episode of The Ghost and Molly McGee) via this link, and watch “I Survived Jessi’s Bat Mitzvah” (an episode of Big Mouth) via this link.
[6] For some past Judaism Unbound episodes that consider this life cycle ritual, see Episode 85: B-Mitzvah Revolutions - Isa Aron, Episode 291: Recipe for Disaster - Aimee Lucido, or Episode 323: Jewish Fractals - Natan Margalit.
