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Becoming a Jewish Adult

The path to adulthood is full of twists and turns. From celebrating a bar/bat mitzvah to leaving home for the first time, this is a journey fraught with new freedom, new responsibilities, and an abundance of complex emotions. We offer blessings, prayers and rituals that help parents and children use a Jewish vocabulary to describe this journey—and to experience it as richly as possible.

Photo by Jordan Cassway

To A Daughter Leaving Home

Ceremony for a child going off to college for the first time [more]

Found In: Leaving Home

Tags: college, havdalah, mezuzah, priestly blessing

A Family Ritual for a New Driver

A ritual for parents and children marking this significant moment in their relationship [more]

Found In: Driver's License, Traveling

Tags: tefilat haderech

New Rituals for the Onset of Menstruation

A set of suggestions for creating a Jewish celebration of menarche [more]

Found In: First Menstruation

As My Daughter Bleeds, So Do I

A poem about a daughter's onset of menses at the same time as her mother, the poet, begins menopause [more]

Found In: First Menstruation, Menopause

Crescent Tambourine

A tambourine ritual for the onset of menses [more]

Found In: First Menstruation

From Developing Girl to Changing Woman

A ritual for a girl's first period. Includes a circle of names, blessings, candle-lighting, and gift-giving. Ritual objects include a tambourine, red ribbons, a decorative egg, a ring, candles, and red fruits. [more]

Found In: First Menstruation

Enter: A Woman

A moonlit ceremony on the shores of a brook. Celebrates the entrance of a daughter into womanhood. Includes songs, book-giving, adapted tashlich ritual, and blessings. [more]

Found In: First Menstruation

Tags: kiddush, shehekheyanu , tashlikh

New Moon–First Moon Celebration: Welcoming Daughters into the Circle of Women

A description of a menarche ceremony created by a woman for her daughter [more]

Found In: First Menstruation

Ritual of Welcoming Bodily Change

A private ritual to honor a girl's entrance into womanhood. Includes rainwater bubble bath, blessings, and teachings on sexual health and well-being. [more]

Found In: First Menstruation

Tags: mikveh

A Yemenite Menarche Ritual

A Yemenite menarche ritual for a mother and daughter. [more]

Found In: First Menstruation