Coming of Age in Jewish America : Bar and Bat Mitzvah Reinterpreted / Patricia Keer Munro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Munro, Patricia Keer, 1957- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--United States--Social life and customs.

Jews.

Jewish teenagers--Religious life--United States.

Jewish teenagers.

Bat mitzvah--United States.

Bat mitzvah.

Bar mitzvah--United States.

Bar mitzvah.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (230 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The Jewish practice of bar mitzvah dates back to the twelfth century, but this ancient cultural ritual has changed radically since then, evolving with the times and adapting to local conditions. For many Jewish-American families, a child's bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah is both a major social event and a symbolic means of asserting the family's ongoing connection to the core values of Judaism. Coming of Age in Jewish America takes an inside look at bar and bat mitzvahs in the twenty-first century, examining how the practices have continued to morph and exploring how they serve as a sometimes shaky bridge between the values of contemporary American culture and Judaic tradition. Interviewing over 200 individuals involved in bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies, from family members to religious educators to rabbis, Patricia Keer Munro presents a candid portrait of the conflicts that often emerge and the negotiations that ensue. In the course of her study, she charts how this ritual is rife with contradictions; it is a private family event and a public community activity, and for the child, it is both an educational process and a high-stakes performance. Through detailed observations of Conservative, Orthodox, Reform, and independent congregations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Munro draws intriguing, broad-reaching conclusions about both the current state and likely future of American Judaism. In the process, she shows not only how American Jews have forged a unique set of bar and bat mitzvah practices, but also how these rituals continue to shape a distinctive Jewish-American identity.

Contents:

1. It's Not Duddy Kravitz's Bar Mitzvah Anymore: Bar and Bat Mitzvah in the Twenty-First Century

2. Describing the Context: Congregations and the Bar or Bat Mitzvah Service

3. Students and Parents, Rabbis and Teachers: Different Roles, Different Standpoints

4. Variations on a Theme: Different Meanings and Motives

5. What If I Drop the Torah? From Learning to Doing Judaism

6. What Are They Doing on the Bimah? Setting Boundaries around Bar or Bat Mitzvah Participation

7. Whose Bimah Is It, Anyway? Public Shabbat Service or Private Bar or Bat Mitzvah Ritual

8. A Very Narrow Bridge: Bar and Bat Mitzvah and Connecting to the Jewish Future.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 04. Sep 2019)

ISBN:

0-8135-7596-6

OCLC:

948512073