(RNS5-FEB17) Mintsy Agin, 89, rehearses for her Bat Mitzvah in the synagogue at Menorah Park in Beachwood, Ohio. Ten women, ages 89 to 96, have the opportunity to finally have this ritual. For use with RNS-BAT-MITZVAH, transmitted Feb. 17, 2009. Religion News Service photo by Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer.
(RNS5-FEB17) Mintsy Agin, 89, rehearses for her Bat Mitzvah in the synagogue at Menorah Park in Beachwood, Ohio. Ten women, ages 89 to 96, have the opportunity to finally have this ritual. For use with RNS-BAT-MITZVAH, transmitted Feb. 17, 2009. Religion News Service photo by Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer.
(RNS5-FEB17) Mintsy Agin, 89, rehearses for her Bat Mitzvah in the synagogue at Menorah Park in Beachwood, Ohio. Ten women, ages 89 to 96, have the opportunity to finally have this ritual. For use with RNS-BAT-MITZVAH, transmitted Feb. 17, 2009. Religion News Service photo by Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer.
(RNS5-FEB17) Mintsy Agin, 89, rehearses for her Bat Mitzvah in the synagogue at Menorah Park in Beachwood, Ohio. Ten women, ages 89 to 96, have the opportunity to finally have this ritual. For use with RNS-BAT-MITZVAH, transmitted Feb. 17, 2009. Religion News Service photo by Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer.
(RNS5-FEB17) Mintsy Agin, 89, rehearses for her Bat Mitzvah in the synagogue at Menorah Park in Beachwood, Ohio. Ten women, ages 89 to 96, have the opportunity to finally have this ritual. For use with RNS-BAT-MITZVAH, transmitted Feb. 17, 2009. Religion News Service photo by Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer.
BEACHWOOD, Ohio — One by one, some with walkers, some on oxygen, they approached the podium to recite Jewish prayers usually reserved for 12-year-old girls.
Ten women — ages 89 to 96 — are rehearsing for their upcoming bat mitzvah, a coming-of-age ritual they never got to experience. When they were girls, Jewish custom celebrated only boys — with a bar mitzvah — becoming young adults.
Today, the ritual is routinely extended to girls, but rarely to seniors, especially a group whose members are almost all in their 90s.
“All through history, boys and men got the better deal,” said Evelyn Bonder, 90. “But today that has changed.”
The 10 women are residents of an independent living facility on the campus of Menorah Park Center for Senior Living here. Since September, they have rehearsed every Monday at the Menorah Park Synagogue, reading Hebrew from the Siddur, a traditional Jewish prayer book.
“It’s the oldest bat mitzvah group, I would venture to say, in the entire country,” said Rabbi Howard Kutner, who invited the women to participate in the holy ritual. “This is very special, very unique.
“The message here is it’s never too late. At any age you can accept a challenge and you can do it.”
The bat mitzvah is scheduled for March 22 at the synagogue, followed by a party for an expected 200 people.
The biggest challenge for the women as they rehearse is reading prayers in Hebrew. But Kutner stands by to correct their diction.
“We’re getting closer to the date,” Kutner told the women Monday (Feb. 16). “We’ve got to work on the finishing touches.”
Prayers are read in both Hebrew and English. Then each woman gives a personal speech, talking about her spiritual feelings or her life stories.
At Monday’s rehearsal, they shuffled papers while holding a cordless microphone at a tall podium, fine-tuning their deliveries.
Mollie Kravitz, 96, talked about her vision for social justice in the world.
“I hope and pray I can follow in the footsteps of our prophets and maintain the values of our forefathers to make the world a better place,” she said.
Flo Wish, 91, talked about growing up in the Great Depression.
“In 1932, President Franklin Roosevelt introduced the New Deal, a pathway out of the state of panic,” she said. “We are now experiencing the fears of another economic crisis. But we are optimistic that the very promising new New Deal of President Barack Obama and his bright administrative staff will lead us successfully through the years.”
Asked about being excluded from the coming-of-age ritual as a girl, Mintzi Agin, 89, responded with a Yiddish phrase, “mi tur nisht,” which, loosely translated, means, “Don’t even bring it up. Don’t even go there.”
“You just didn’t think about it,” she said. “The idea was a no-no.”
How do they feel about it now?
“It’s been fun and challenging,” said Fay Kadis, 94. “We sometimes yell at one another and I’m not afraid of admitting that.”
Following the ceremony, the women will leave the synagogue in a procession, accompanied by music.
“We’ll be going out in style,” said Millie Danzinger Fromet, 90.
“Yes,” added Agin. “With our walkers.”
The 10 women who will celebrate their bat mitzvah include Mintzi Agin, 89; Evelyn Bonder, 90; Millie Danzinger Fromet, 90; Fay Kadis, 94; Mollie Kravitz, 96; Eva Rosenberg, 91; Rosella Rosenberg, 90; Ann Simon, 93; Belva Singer, 91; and Flo Wish, 91.
(Michael O’Malley writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.)