The Bar Mitzvah as an Experience in Family Growth


 

Publication Date: September 1982

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Sheldon Blitstein

Research Area: Culture and religion; Social conditions

Keywords: Youth; Social Work; Ritual

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

As the boy or girl enters adolescence and takes his or her place within the Jewish community, it becomes incumbent upon the parents to provide a new balance in the
intergenerational legacy of family expectations. The rite of passage of the adolescent can produce a major upheaval in family functionings. If therapeutic intervention is called for, the family therapist must understand life-cycle theory and utilize various techniques to exonerate the family from its "invisible loyalties."

In Journal of Jewish Communal Service, 59:1.