Lifecycles

Constructing a Ritual of Transition | Article

By Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman

Creating a means to elevate what might otherwise be mundane or even painful

Kavod Ha’em — Honoring A Beloved Elder or Foremother | Complete Ceremony

By Pat Barr z”l, Rabbi Fredi Cooper, and Lori Lefkovitz

A beautiful ritual based on traditional concepts for honoring an admired woman on her birthday

Simchat HaDorot | Complete Ceremony

By Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller

A ceremony organized around Havdalah for a 90th-birthday celebration with children and grandchildren

Turning 80 | Poem

By Judith Ruskay Rabinor

A ceremony planned by a daughter for family and friends to celebrate her mother's 80th birthday

Simchat Chokhmah | Complete Ceremony

By Savina J. Teubal, z"l

The original Simchat Chokhmah from which all others have derived. Elements include the donning of a shroud, the taking of a new name, and the planting of a tree.

Becoming a Crone | Complete Ceremony

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.

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

By Sandy Warshaw

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

Croning Ritual | Complete Ceremony

By Ann Metlay

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

Passage into the Flaming Fifties | Complete Ceremony

By Viviane Topp

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

Turning 40: A Ritual Talmudically | Complete Ceremony

By Rivkah Walton

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

at 33, while buying bathing suits | Poem

By Adrienne Ross

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

A Personal Seder to Celebrate Aging | Complete Ceremony

By Anne Tolbert

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

A Testament to Growing Older | Complete Ceremony

By Paul Citrin

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

A Location in Time | Article

By Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman

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

Older-Adult Confirmation | Article

By Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman

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

Old Age | Poem

By Jacob Glatshteyn

A poem, translated from the Yiddish, about old age