Rabbi Carole Balin traces a brief history of Bat Mitzvah, from March 18, 1922, when Judith Kaplan became the first American girl to have a bat mitzvah ceremony, to today, when girls across the Jewish spectrum, from secular to ultra-Orthodox, mark their coming-of-age. Created by the Jewish Women's Archive for Rise Up/Bat Mitzvah at 100, in partnership with SAJ: Judaism That Stands For All.

Rabbi Carole Balin explores how, as increasing numbers of girls followed in Judith Kaplan’s footsteps and marked their bat mitzvah, girls and women began to expect – and even demand – access to ritual honors and roles in synagogue leadership. Bat mitzvah pioneers were a catalyst for expanding all women’s participation in Jewish life, paving the way for female rabbis and inspiring their mothers to become bat mitzvah as adults. Created by the Jewish Women's Archive for Rise Up/Bat Mitzvah at 100, in partnership with SAJ: Judaism That Stands For All.

Rabbi Carole Balin discusses how the revolution in Jewish life bat mitzvah girls sparked a century ago is entering a new phase as new conceptions of gender are stretching the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony once again. Gender-expansive kids are leading the way in creating the gender-neutral ritual known as b’mitzvah. Created by the Jewish Women's Archive for Rise Up/Bat Mitzvah at 100, in partnership with SAJ: Judaism That Stands For All.