Additional Stories for Today I Am a Woman
As we have traveled around New England and beyond, we've heard wonderful bat mitzvah stories from women who have come to our presentations, many who were bat mitzvah pioneers in their synagogues and communities. Our colleagues at Moving Traditions would love to hear your story. Click here to add your bat mitzvah "first" to their survey. |
| These women from the Abayudaya Jewish community of Uganda celebrated the first adult bat mitzvah in the community. With them is Rabbi Gershom Sizomu. |
A moving article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz describes the bat mitzvah of Holocaust survivors, sponsored by Hillel Israel on its thirteenth anniversary.
We deeply regret that we were not able to include all of the stories we received for the book. Some were from authors who did not have a bat mitzvah, a circumstance that the publisher decided would disqualify them; others were from countries that were over-represented. We sincerely appreciate the effort that the authors expended to share their stories, many of which are among the most compelling that we collected. We are especially sorry that we weren't able to include some testimonies from natives of countries where Jewish communities no longer exist. These communities need documentation. We are also sorry that we had to exclude some pieces about adult bat mitzvah, a milestone that more and more women experience with delight each year. We present these additions here with our most heartfelt thanks to the authors. Your stories complete the montage of worldwide Judaism that appears in the published volume.The stories are prefaced by brief descriptions of the communities and the authors.
Algeria - Marlène Amar and Madeline Cohen
Azores - Yaffah
daCosta
Burma - Sally
Joseph
Colombia - Miriam
Wasserman
Ecuador
- Judith Blacher-Mintzer
Ghana - Margie
Klein
Haiti - Barbara
Nesin
Iran - Gloria
Mound
Iraq
- Loolwa Khazzoom and Rachel Wahba
Ireland - Martin
Simmons
Israel - Aluma
Amyal and Bonna Devora Haberman
Japan - Rachel
Wahba
Kenya - Evelyn
Hockstein
Lebanon
- Sally Eubhani
Mali
- Rick Gold
Morocco
- Lisette Toledano
Portugal
- Maria Cadaxa
Scotland
- Harry Diamond
Singapore
- Rita Hanin
Slovakia
- Beata Leichtova
Slovenia
- Kris Alfred Killer
Switzerland
- Vera Kronenberg
Syria
- Tikva Hasson Schmid
United States - Ida Selavan Schwarcz, Rita Schorr-Germain,
and Evelyn Gelman