This past weekend the Jewish community celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the first BAT Mitzvah in this country. Kol Hakavod to Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan who had the vision and the courage to do this. Mazel tov to Judith Kaplan his daughter who became the first woman, young adult really, to have a Bat Mitzvah ceremony.

Last Shabbat we honored this moment. Here is part of what I said.

This is an important moment in time. But let’s review a little bit of how we got here. Women are allowed, even expected to pray. They are exempt from the Sh’ma because it is time bound but required to recite the Amidah. I can’t explain it but I can give you chapter and verse. Beruiah, the wife of Rav Meir in the Talmud is quoted in the Talmud and in fact is a talmud chachma herself. Some even call her the first (woman) rabbi. (I forgot to put the word woman in that sentence!)

Some call Oznat Barzarni the first (woman) rabbi. She was born in a time when everyone believed in miracles but very few believed girls should learn to read. Her father faught her and when her husband the head of the yeshiva died she became the head and no one argued. There is a lovely children’s book, Osnat and her Dove.

Others cite Regina Jonas in Germany, ordained in1935. She was my chevruta partner’s mother’s Hebrew tutor. She loved studying with Regina but reported to her mother that she must be crazy since she thought she could be a rabbi.

Fast forward to 1974. We had recently moved to Grand Rapids and all my new friends were having a Bar or a Bat Mitzvah. Nobody thought I could because I started learning Hebrew in only 6th grade. In my Sunday School in Evanston we didn’t learn Hebrew. I studied really hard and caught up with my class. We began making plans. Mine was scheduled for Passover, so everything had to be kosher for Passover, even though we belonged to the Reform congregation, Temple Emanuel..

My Bat Mitzvah was on a Friday night, April 12, 1974. The bulletin announcement listed who ushered and who poured tea at the Oneg Shabbat, which was lovely, All decked out in strawberries. Strawberry programs, strawberry napkins, punch and pie, Big bowls of spring time strawberries and whipped cream. Only the next day we discover I am allergic to strawberries. That was the extent of the party. The next day we took a few kids to a hotel swimming pool for afternoon fun. And I had more strawberries.

The service was lovely. I read from the Torah but didn’t chant. My rabbi, Rabbi Albert M. Lewis has often said that kids get just the right portion. Mine certainly proved to be. I had Exodus 33 and 34. The aftermath of the Golden Calf. An argument with G-d about going back up the mountain to get a second set of tablets of the 10 commandments. And then the glorious 13 Attributes. Those 13 Attributes caused me to be able to answer a fundamental question. The G-d of the Hebrew Bible is also the G-d of love, not just something in the Christian Scriptures. It is the verse that I wrote my rabbinic thesis about. And then a book.

I also chanted some of the special reading for Passover, Song of Songs, again about love. I remember telling Al that I would read that in Hebrew. Kind of a racy text for a 13 year old! And of course, parts of it we used at our wedding.

But it all started on a very rainy night in Grand Rapids, in 1974, just two years after Sally Priesland was ordained. Apparently I told my eight grade English teacher that I was going to be a rabbi. I have no recollection of that. Nor can I find any photos. They must be in the basement somewhere.

This is what I know. Coming of age ceremonies are important. For boys. And girls. They give students the opportunity to rise to an occasion and to shine. I am delighted to stand on the shoulders of all those who made it possible for women to take real leadership roles in Judaism.

At CKI there have been B’not Mitzvah since the late 1950 .Late on a Friday afternoon, I had the opportunity to talk to a long time member who had the first female aliyah. She gushed at my remembering and her making history. These are important milestones.

Many women did mot have the opportunities I did. They had a two tiered system for Jewish educations, boys and girls. Or their parents didn’t think girls needed any learning at all. Or they weren’t born Jewish or they just never got around to it. We are hoping at CKI to rectify some of that. If you are interested in becoming an adult Bat Mitzvah, or a Bar Mitzvah, please be in touch. What an exciting way to mark both the 120 anniversary of CKI and the 100th anniversary of bat mitzvah.

What follows are two poems I recently wrote for Women’s History Month.

Ladders: 

“Women don’t climb ladders.” they said.
It’s not safe.
Except they do.
They absolutely do.
They climb step ladders;
They climb paint ladders;
Extension ladders, a-frame ladders, library ladders.
They climb corporate ladders
While they are on top,
They smash glass ceilings.
In sports
In business.
In politics.
In medicine.
Even in religion.
In so much more. 
They even climb Jacob’s ladders.
Reaching to the sky,
Touching the very vault of heaven.
Finding G-d.
Bringing the Presence down to us. 

     Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein, copyright 2022 

Voices… 

In honor of the 100th Anniversary of Bat Mitzvah
In honor of the 50th Anniversary of Women’s Ordination 

“I shall sing to Adonai,”
Chanted Miriam.
 “A voice cried out,”
Mourned Rachel whose children were no more.
“If You give me a child, I will dedicate him to You,”
Hannah wept and prayed in her heart
Devorah judged
Sitting under a palm tree,
Causing the sun to stop.
“No, “said Vashti, “I will not come.”
“Save my life and the life of my people,”
Demanded Esther! 

 Every Friday night we read:
“She opened her lips with wisdom
And the law of kindness is on her tongue.”
So says Proverbs
Or maybe it is how Abraham chose to eulogize Sarah 

 Women have always prayed:
At the shores of the sea,
In the wilderness,
In the women’s court at the Holy Temple,
In their homes and on their way,
Wherever they are. 

We have their words:
Their songs,
Their laments,
Their hopes,
Their techines,
in Yiddish, In Ladino, In Hebrew,
In every language. 

 And yet,
A woman’s voice is dangerous.
Alluring.
It can’t be heard.
It shouldn’t be heard.
Even today
Some groups teach this.
Women don’t have to pray.
Except they do.
Women are exempt
Except they are not
Women can’t read Torah.
Except they can.
I can give you chapter and verse. 

But why?
Why should we?
Why do we still need to prove ourselves?
To justify ourselves
Why are we made to feel that our voices are
Less authentic
Less real
Less important 
Less necessary? 

 No rather,
I will use my voice
To make this world a better place.
To speak out against injustice.
To cry out.
To sing out.
To open my mouth with kindness.

OK, some day, I pray.
I will open my mouth with kindness.
I will listen to the still small voice within.
With all my being I will praise G-d 

As the psalmist said,
What profit is there is I am silenced?
What benefit if I go to my grave? 

Like Miriam and Rachel,
Hannah and Deborah and Esther
Like Beruriah and Gluckel
Osnat and Regina
Like countless women in every generation
My voice must be heard.
Our voices will be heard. 

     Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein, copyright 2022