Bat mitzva

After an Iranian missile shattered homes, Beit Shemesh residents learn to live in limbo

Over 1,000 displaced people from Beit Shemesh were relocated to several hotels across Jerusalem, where they now attempt to piece together fragments of routine amid trauma.

|ByGIL LEWINSKY
At the scene where an Iranian ballistic missile struck Beit Shemesh, causing extensive destruction and fatalities, March 1.
Daughters of widows celebrate their bat-mitzvah at Chabad’s annual 22 Shevat event

In Jerusalem, a Bat Mitzvah celebration honors fatherless girls – and a long-term promise

At Colel Chabad’s annual 22 Shevat event, daughters of widows mark a milestone with music and joy, as organizers stress a commitment that extends far beyond a single day.

|ByRONNIE ROSENMAN
Soldiers praying at the Kotel in 2013.

'I never had a bar mitzvah,' lone soldiers from Ethiopia to celebrate at the Western Wall

The ceremony is expected to bring together soldiers and soldiers without immediate family in Israel, many of whom immigrated alone and joined the Israel Defense Forces.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
An IDF orphan, wearing a beret from the Nachal Brigade, celebrating his bar mitzvah at the Kotel in Jerusalem, October 20, 2025.

Forty-eight IDF orphans mark bnei mitzvah at Western Wall

Forty-eight children who lost a parent in IDF service marked their bnei mitzvah at the Western Wall in a ceremony of unity and remembrance.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

American synagogues mark 100th anniversary of the US's first bat mitzvah

The first bat mitzvah in the US was that of Judith Kaplan in 1922.

MARCH 17, 2022ByJACKIE HAJDENBERG/JTA
Judith Kaplan's bat mitzvah in 1922 set the precedent for millions of American Jewish women, including the ladies of Temple Emanuel in 1989.

Yad Vashem's Bar/Bat Mitzvah program keeps Holocaust memory alive

At Yad Vashem, concern over how the Holocaust would remain an integral part of the Jewish consciousness once there were no longer any survivors prompted the start of the twinning program.

JANUARY 20, 2022ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
ARON WELLS of the UK studies Yad Vashem’s materials on the identity of the Shoah victim with whom he was twinned, Aron Gotlib.

12-year-old girl raises NIS 70,000 for ALYN Hospital for her Bat Mitzvah

With coronavirus keeping guests from attending her coming-of-age ceremony, Yazmine Bloch requested that the gift money be donated to help children with disabilities at ALYN Orthopedic Hospital.

APRIL 11, 2021ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
12-year-old British immigrant Yazmine Bloch

74 bar and bat mitzvahs for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth held over Zoom

“2020 has been a particularly difficult year for the deaf and hearing-impaired population," said the International Young Israel Movement director.

NOVEMBER 30, 2020ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Deaf and hard of hearing students celebrate their bar and bat mitzvahs over Zoom amid coronavirus pandemic.

90-year-old dies of COVID-19 while preparing for 2nd adult bat mitzvah

Her shiva was conducted over Zoom, with family and friends from as far afield as Canada, Brazil and Israel sharing stories about Barat’s colorful and friendly spirit.

OCTOBER 10, 2020ByPENNY SCHWARTZ/ JTA
Visitors release balloons as they begin celebrating a bar mitzva near the Western Wall in Jerusalem in February

Bat Mitzvah has over 1,000 guests, flouting Health Ministry regulations

The bat mitzvah, held in the Shfela foothills on Thursday night, was the daughter of a wealthy businessman, and included many Israeli celebrities who took to the stage.

JULY 6, 2020ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Event hall, illustrative

70-year-old woman undresses at Gilbert Gottfried’s daughter's bat mitzvah

During the Zoom bat mitzvah last week for the girl, a 70-year-old woman unwittingly removed her bathing suit and took a shower in full view of the other participants

JUNE 24, 2020ByBEN SALES/JTA
GILBERT GOTTFRIED, the star of a new documentary about himself, shown with his wife, Dara Kravitz.

Celebrating your bat mitzvah in the time of the coronavirus

Throwing candy at the computer: Such is the bat mitzvah in the coronavirus era.

APRIL 25, 2020ByJOSEFIN DOLSTEN/JTA
Lila Duke celebrated her bat mitzvah at home as more than 100 guests tuned in on Zoom

Seven years after my arrest, Israel is still in religious handcuffs

It was a crime of passion – prayer. I had been praying at the Western Wall with Women of the Wall, wearing a tallit exactly as I had since my bat mitzvah.

FEBRUARY 21, 2020ByHALLEL ABRAMOWITZ-SILVERMAN
‘I HAD been praying at the Western Wall with Women of the Wall, wearing a tallit exactly as I had since my bat mitzvah.’

Cambodian royal family celebrates first bat mitzvah

Elior Koroghli is the great-granddaughter of MH King Monivong, who ruled Cambodia until 1941.

JANUARY 12, 2020ByDONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
The Silver Pagoda is seen at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, October 31, 2018