Big Tent Judaism

Bat Mitzvah at Prime Time

What’s the sudden appeal of the Bar and Bat Mitzvah in the television and movie worlds? Is it because the outrageousness of some parties has eclipsed the meaningful ceremony that the majority of Bar and Bat Mitzvahs kids experience? Is it that this awkward time of transition overflows with such pathos that it is easy fodder for comedic and dramatic writers?

Hype or no hype, we continue to affirm our belief that the ceremony plays an important role as a rite-of-passage in the Jewish community, even when accompanied by over-indulgences. Consider the series finale of “Everwood.” The series follows the story of a widowed non-Jewish father who is raising his children in a small town (the deceased mother was Jewish). In this particular episode, the daughter decides—inspired perhaps by the memory of her mother—to have a Bat Mitzvah. She is not interested in the party, but the rituals. While this story is fictitious, written primarily to pull at heartstrings and increase viewer ratings, perhaps there is more truth here than we realize. The “War at Home” had a similar moral in its Bar Mitzvah episode, when the boy was inspired by the learning, not the prospect of a party.

(more…)