Bat Mitzvah in Australian Society
How effectively do the coming of age rituals of Judaism prepare a young person for full acceptance in contemporary Australian society?
A coming of age ritual is a milestone that marks an important time of transition for every child and every family, welcoming that child as an official “adult” member of the Jewish community. In Judaism, there are two coming of age rituals – Bar Mitzvah (for boys), and Bat Mitzvah (for girls). While the ritual teaches many valuable qualities, the ritual is only somewhat effective in preparing a young person for full acceptance into contemporary Australian society. The reason being, in Australian society men and women are equal (‘Equality of Men and Women’ and ‘Spirit of Egalitarianism’). …show more content…
The ritual was introduced to end gender divisions as before 1922 there was only Bar Mitzvah rituals held for boys. Bat Mitzvah means ‘Daughter of the Commandment’ and it occurs when a girl turns 12 (Waskow, 2018). There are three parts in a Bat Mitzvah – the preparation, the ceremony in the synagogue, and the ‘after-party’ celebration.
A Bat Mitzvah requires a great deal of commitment and preparation. The preparation includes completing many services such as written research reports, volunteer projects, and attending religious services (Karesh & Hurvitz, 2006, pg. 45-46). They also attend special classes where they are learn about the Torah and how to chant it (Solomin, 2018). In addition, girls are to complete a charity project and a ‘Mitzvah project’, which involves helping others, raising money and donating for the unfortunate (The Bat Mitzvah Ceremony and Celebration, …show more content…
The society of Australia is now considered an egalitarian society where they treat women and men equally (National Frameworks for Values Education in Australian Schools, 2005). However, the Jewish society has not demonstrated this in their culture, contradicting the Australian key values. The denomination, Ultra-Orthodox, corroborates this as in their ritual, a Bat Mitzvah is still a non-event. Instead of celebrating like boys and having a Bar mitzvah, girls are only subjected to a modest meal or wearing nicer clothes. This portrays that boys are considered more important than girls in this denomination as boys get to have a proper ritual in a synagogue and get to participate in the reading of the Torah for their first time. On the other hand, the denomination does not show any importance to the girls as they only set up a modest meal or girls tend to wear nicer clothes showing that the only thing the denomination is promoting girls is to look attractive for boys (Brown, 2018). It is evident that this denomination does not show equality between women and men. However, Liberal Jews (or Reform Jews) have changed their attitudes and are helping advance gender equality in Jewish culture. They have done this by having Bat and Bar Mitzvah’s where boys and girls have equal roles and
How effectively do the coming of age rituals of Judaism prepare a young person for full acceptance in contemporary Australian society?
A coming of age ritual is a milestone that marks an important time of transition for every child and every family, welcoming that child as an official “adult” member of the Jewish community. In Judaism, there are two coming of age rituals – Bar Mitzvah (for boys), and Bat Mitzvah (for girls). While the ritual teaches many valuable qualities, the ritual is only somewhat effective in preparing a young person for full acceptance into contemporary Australian society. The reason being, in Australian society men and women are equal (‘Equality of Men and Women’ and ‘Spirit of Egalitarianism’). …show more content…
The ritual was introduced to end gender divisions as before 1922 there was only Bar Mitzvah rituals held for boys. Bat Mitzvah means ‘Daughter of the Commandment’ and it occurs when a girl turns 12 (Waskow, 2018). There are three parts in a Bat Mitzvah – the preparation, the ceremony in the synagogue, and the ‘after-party’ celebration.
A Bat Mitzvah requires a great deal of commitment and preparation. The preparation includes completing many services such as written research reports, volunteer projects, and attending religious services (Karesh & Hurvitz, 2006, pg. 45-46). They also attend special classes where they are learn about the Torah and how to chant it (Solomin, 2018). In addition, girls are to complete a charity project and a ‘Mitzvah project’, which involves helping others, raising money and donating for the unfortunate (The Bat Mitzvah Ceremony and Celebration, …show more content…
The society of Australia is now considered an egalitarian society where they treat women and men equally (National Frameworks for Values Education in Australian Schools, 2005). However, the Jewish society has not demonstrated this in their culture, contradicting the Australian key values. The denomination, Ultra-Orthodox, corroborates this as in their ritual, a Bat Mitzvah is still a non-event. Instead of celebrating like boys and having a Bar mitzvah, girls are only subjected to a modest meal or wearing nicer clothes. This portrays that boys are considered more important than girls in this denomination as boys get to have a proper ritual in a synagogue and get to participate in the reading of the Torah for their first time. On the other hand, the denomination does not show any importance to the girls as they only set up a modest meal or girls tend to wear nicer clothes showing that the only thing the denomination is promoting girls is to look attractive for boys (Brown, 2018). It is evident that this denomination does not show equality between women and men. However, Liberal Jews (or Reform Jews) have changed their attitudes and are helping advance gender equality in Jewish culture. They have done this by having Bat and Bar Mitzvah’s where boys and girls have equal roles and