Today I Am a Woman: Stories of Bat Mitzvah around the World

by Barbara Vinick (editor), Shulamit Reinharz (Editor)

Recollections of the first bat mitzvah at the only synagogue in Indonesia, a poignant bat mitzvah memory of World War II Italy, and an American bat mitzvah shared with girls in a Ukrainian orphanage―these are a few of the resonant testimonies about the transition from Jewish girl to Jewish woman collected in Today I Am a Woman. Introduced by brief biographical notes and descriptions of Jewish communities around the world, these stories reveal how Judaism defines this important rite of passage in a girl's life in widely disparate settings. The contributions are from bat mitzvah girls of the past and present, their parents, communities, and religious leaders. Including evocative family photos―some recent, some from decades past―this rich compilation is an ideal gift for bat mitzvah celebrants, their families, and friends.

296 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2011

Reviews

[Kay Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm not one for non-fiction, and while i did enjoy this book once i finished it, it was a really tough read for me. maybe it's because i have a horrible attention span for non-fiction, especially considering this was from multiple authors, but i don't think this was the book for me. i'm sure there's plenty of other bat mitzvah books that i can read for whenever i start planning my own, but this one didn't really hit as hard as i was thinking it would have.