Life

Is the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Model Broken?

By Forward Staff June 11, 2013

Is the contemporary bar/bat mitzvah model broken? What role do these celebrations play in the everyday lives of young Jews, and are they working for or against the Jewish community? These questions, and more, were debated on the anniversary episode of The Jewish Channel’s The Salon, only this time the conversation took place in front of a live audience at the JCC in Manhattan.

The Salon, hosted by the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief Jane Eisner and Rachel Sklar, founder of Change the Ratio and The Li.st, featured powerful female voices weighing in on a range of pressing issues. The event featured Rabbi Joy Levitt, executive director of the JCC in Manhattan and founder of The Jewish Journey Project; Judith Shulevitz, science editor of The New Republic and author of “The Sabbath World; and Hanna Rosin, author of “The End of Men” and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Stay tuned for the complete episode of The Salon’s anniversary episode on June 14.

The Forward’s staff contributors are listed in our masthead.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO