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A new program for pre-Bat Mitzvah girls and their mothers
This program is an opportunity for mothers and daughters to explore the transition of becoming Bat Mitzvah. Moms and girls will study together and separately, create a personal ritual, and learn about mikveh in historical and contemporary settings.
| Dates: |
Spring 2008 Sessions (for Bat Mitzvah date of June 7, 2008 or later)
Sundays, May 4, May 18, June 1, June 8
Fall 2008 Sessions (for Bat Mitzvah date of December 13, 2008 or later)
Sundays, October 26, November 9, November 23, December 7
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| Time: |
4:00pm – 6:00pm |
| Location: |
Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Paula Brody & Family Education Center, 1838 Washington Street, Newton, Massachusetts (map ») |
| Registration deadlines: |
Spring classes: April 30, 2008
Fall classes: October 6, 2008 |
| Participation Fee: |
$108 per family for four sessions; immersions additional.
Scholarships are available; please contact Lisa Berman for more information. |
Participant
Requirements: |
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Girls in sixth or seventh grade |
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Girls to be accompanied by a mother or other significant adult woman |
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Groups will be limited to 10-15 pairs; groups of friends and classmates are encouraged to attend together |
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For more information
or to register: |
Lisa Berman, Education Center Director
617-244-1836 ext. 205
LisaB@MayyimHayyim.org |
Program Description
The Daughters Group offers girls a place to explore what it means to be Jewish, to become a Bat Mitzvah, and to become a (Jewish) woman. The peer groups will be facilitated by a rabbinical student and a graduate student -- young women who are learned and very familiar with Mayyim Hayyim.
The Mothers Group will give the women a chance to learn how Jewish tradition, practice, and values can help them raise more resilient daughters in the 21st century. These groups will be facilitated by Penina Adelman, M.A., M.S.W. who is also the curriculum consultant for the entire program. Penina writes and speaks about women and spirituality, women in the Bible, and women as myth-makers and creators of ritual. She recently co-authored The JGirl's Guide: The Young Jewish Woman's Handbook for Coming of Age. Her first book, Miriam's Well, helped launch the Rosh Hodesh (Jewish New Moon festival) movement. As a social worker for over 20 years, she has run support and activity groups for the mothers of Bat Mitzvah girls.
Session Details
| Session One |
Puberty Rites Around the World
Theme: Bat Mitzvah is discussed in a cross-cultural context.
Daughters: Discussion of types of contemporary rituals identified as "coming of age".
Mothers: Discussion of their own coming of age experiences, their own bat mitzvah experiences (or lack thereof), what they would like to do differently for their daughters. |
| Session Two |
Mikveh and Mayyim Hayyim
Theme: Basics of mikveh in Judaism – what is it, how it is practiced, what it has meant throughout Jewish history, its significance today.
• Tour of Mayyim Hayyim.
• Discussion of contemporary uses of mikveh.
Daughters: Share experiences about water and its transforming power – from a secular and Biblical text-based perspective. Art exercise designing their own mikveh. Discussion of how tzniyut - modesty and privacy - is dealt with at Mayyim Hayyim.
Mothers: Discussion of feelings and preconceived notions about mikveh.
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| Session Three |
Creation of Ritual
Theme: Presentations of elements of ritual and how women and girls at Mayyim Hayyim have devised rituals which contain both traditional and innovative elements.
Daughters: Create their own ritual of transition using role plays, journaling, creative writing exercises, poems, and prayers.
Mothers: Group text study of various Jewish rituals to help mothers identify parts of the transition from Jewish girl to Jewish woman which they want to ritualize with their daughters.
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| Session Four |
Siyyum (Conclusion)
Theme: Mothers and daughters meet together. Review learning and session experiences, study a new text together, sing, read, eat. Have the opportunity to participate in the hand-washing ritual they have created, privately or with the group.
Mothers and daughters are welcome to immerse at a later date in preparation for their family's Bat Mitzvah celebration, though this is neither a requirement for participation nor an expectation.
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For more information or to register:
Please contact Lisa Berman, Education Center Director
at 617-244-1836 ext. 205 or LisaB@MayyimHayyim.org
The Hadassah Foundation has provided generous support
for the creation and implementation of the Beneath the Surface
Project.
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