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Integration into the Group and Sacred Uniqueness; An Analysis of Adult Bat Mitzvah
Publication Date: January 1986
Publisher(s): Association for the Sociology of Religion
Author(s): Stuart Schoenfeld
Special Collection: Berman Jewish Policy Archive
Topic: Culture and religion (Religion and religious groups)
Culture and religion (Calendars, special days, and ceremonies)
Keywords: American Jews; Adult education; Jewish identification
Type: Report
Coverage: United States
Abstract:
In the analysis that follows, an innovative Jewish ritual - an adult bat mitzvah - is interpreted as one which combines themes of integration into a group and individual autonomy. The analysis is made complex by the fact that the innovative ritual is an adaptation of a well-established conventional pattern of bar and bat mitzvah at the age of thirteen. The conventional pattern is described first in order that the differences between it and the innovative ritual will be clear.