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Growing Older

Several generations ago, a woman got married in her early 20s, had children immediately, and by the time she was finished having children, she was well on the way to being a grandmother. And life was shorter.

Becoming a Crone

A Simchat Chochma (Joy of Wisdom Ceremony) for a 60th birthday. Elements include the donning of a shroud, making vows, and taking a new name. [more]

Found In: Milestone Birthdays, Becoming an Elder

Tags: Debbie Friedman

Simchat Chochmah V'hatchalah: A Celebration of Wisdom and New Beginnings

A ceremony for a 60th-birthday celebrating 60 as the inauguration of a new stage of life "that promised great adventure" [more]

Found In: Milestone Birthdays, Becoming an Elder

Tags: Debbie Friedman, Marge Piercy, mi sheberakh

Croning Ritual

A ceremony for a woman to celebrate her 50th birthday in the context of her Rosh Hodesh group [more]

Found In: Milestone Birthdays, Becoming an Elder

Passage into the Flaming Fifties

A short and simple ceremony marking the occasion of a 50th birthday [more]

Found In: Milestone Birthdays

Tags: Debbie Friedman, kiddush, shehekheyanu

Turning 40: A Ritual Talmudically

A ritual for turning 40 and banishing the demons of self-criticism [more]

Found In: Milestone Birthdays

At 33, While Buying Bathing Suits

A poem in which a daughter reflects on her mother's and her mother's friends' comfort in their aging bodies in contrast to her own struggle to accept herself [more]

Found In: Milestone Birthdays

A Personal Seder to Celebrate Aging

A ritual to celebrate aging and affirm the author's intention to remain visible and continue to work for personal and political [more]

Found In: Milestone Birthdays

Tags: Judy Chicago

A Testament to Growing Older

A new ceremony designed to express one's sense of meaning and understanding of life and thus ease the acceptance of aging and death [more]

Found In: Growing Older

A Location in Time

The importance of holiday rituals — including Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and Passover — as milestones on the time continuum for elders in residences [more]

Found In: Growing Older

Older-Adult Confirmation

A confirmation class, held in a nursing home, for older adults who had received little or no formal Jewish education [more]

Found In: Adult Bar / Bat Mitzvah, Confirmation, Growing Older