B’nai Mitzvah Handbook, Chapel Hill Kehillah

Reconstructionists gather for a movement convention, B’Yachad: Reconstructing Judaism Together.

The first American bat mitzvah took place nearly a century ago, but its effects reverberate to this day. This podcast episode explores how the bat mitzvah helped pave the way for greater inclusion of women in public Jewish ritual and practice and laid the groundwork for further steps toward inclusion.

In 1992, the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot released a report entitled Homosexuality And Judaism: The Reconstructionist Position, a document affirming the humanity and equality of gay and lesbian Jews and advocating for inclusion and welcome in all areas of Jewish life — a forthright stance that put Reconstructionism in the vanguard of religious organizations at that time.