A hundred and one years before ‘You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah’ was released, the first American Bat Mitzvah took place.
(Apple TV+/Disney+/Netflix via AP)
‘You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah’ may seem worlds apart from the growth and appeal of ‘by and for women only’ films produced by Orthodox Jewish women, but all these films share a focus on the potential of Jewish ritual.
People wait at a bus stop at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem.
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Two religiously observant groups of Jews in Israel, the ultra-Orthodox and Religious Zionists, are increasingly acting as political allies. The consequences could be profound.
Acceptance of LGBTQ identities is growing in some parts of Orthodox Judaism, but slowly.
motimeiri/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Orthodox Jewish communities are still difficult places for many LGBTQ people. Yet the view, once ubiquitous, that Orthodox tradition is incompatible with their identities is gradually shifting.
Tsvi Reiter, Yvonne Reiter and Hei Le participate in Yvonne’s bat mitzvah ceremony, which was performed over Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images News via Getty Images
Judith Kaplan became the first American bat mitzvah in 1922. The Jewish coming-of-age ceremony has become more popular for girls ever since.
Opportunities are expanding for Orthodox Jewish women to formally study Jewish texts. This event in Jerusalem celebrated women who completed the 7 ½-year cycle of daily study of the Talmud.
AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov
Ancient Christian and Jewish texts threatened women with hellfire if they stepped out of line – and those terrifying visions still resonate in U.S. society today.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women have started telling their own stories via social media, challenging television’s sometimes one-sided depictions of their lives.
rfranca/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images