In 2007, Mia Lieberman began weekly meetings at Hillel for women to learn more about Jewish culture.
Last Saturday, Lieberman became a bat mitzvah with the other women in her group.
However, in contrast to typical Jewish tradition, this ceremony was not only a group bat mitzvah, but it was also an adult bat mitzvah.
I never had much of a Jewish home
so I had to create it myself said Lieberman, who is an Ohio University senior.
So when the weekly study groups at Hillel, 21 Mill St., with Rabbi Danielle Leshaw, turned into the study of and preparation for a bat mitzvah, Lieberman was willing to accept the idea.
Nonetheless, an adult group bat mitzvah is different from a young teen's bat mitzvah ceremony, which usually happens around age 13,
Lieberman said.
The idea as a young teen is that it's a weight on your shoulders. It's a lot about your parents' and relatives' pride in you she said.
In contrast, as an adult, no one is pressuring the daughter to become a bat mitzvah, Lieberman said. Rather, she chooses this for herself.
A teenager's bar or bat mitzvah ceremony also usually involves an elaborate and expensive party afterward. A typical teen bat mitzvah ceremony costs an average of about $10,000, according to a 2006 article on CNNMoney.com, while an adult one would cost significantly less without the party.
Julie Elman, an assistant professor in the OU School of Visual Communication and member of Lieberman's bat mitzvah group, has been exploring ways to learn more about Judaism since 2003.
I was one of those (Jewish) adults embarrassed by my lack of knowledge about Judaism
said Elman, who attended Hebrew school when she was younger, but never became a bat mitzvah.
Elman also said that when she was younger, it was common for boys to go through their bar mitzvah experience but not for girls.
Now, as an adult, Elman knows the decision was entirely her own.
I think I have a greater appreciation of what I'm about to embark on
far more than I would have if I had done this when I was 12 or 13
Elman said.
An additional benefit to this type of bat mitzvah ceremony is that all four women - Lieberman, Elman, Morissa Freiberg and Jamie Taylor - are becoming bat mitzvahs together.
The service is unconventional because it's about all of us
not just one
Lieberman said. It's designed in a way that is conscious of four people uniting.
While the women have been preparing for about a year to become bat mitzvahs, this is hardly the end of their study.
The bat mitzvah ceremony is both a conclusion and a beginning ... and now
after all that was involved in their learning
there's an expectation that they start fresh and develop new Jewish interests and help others to appreciate all that Judaism has to offer
said Rabbi Danielle Leshaw, the women's adviser throughout the process.
