Coming of Age in America
Sunday, March 18
and
Sunday, March 25
In recognition of the 90th anniversary of the first American bat mitzvah, which took place on March 18, 1922, the Museum is presenting a two-day series of programs that invite the public to engage in an intergenerational dialogue about tweenhood and coming-of-age in America. All visitors are also encouraged to share their bat mitzvah and other family stories in the Museum’s It’s Your Story recording booths.
The programs are also being held in conjunction with the opening of a special exhibition, Bat Mitzvah Comes of Age, at the JCC of Manhattan. Created with Moving Traditions, the exhibition explores how the tradition of bat mitzvah has evolved and the related changes in Jewish education, practice and leadership.
Collect-o-Rama 3/18 & 3/25
Women’s History Tours 3/18 &3/25
Tallit Silk-Screening with the Fabric Workshop and Museum 3/18
Coming of Age in America Discussion and Keynote, feat. Mayim Bialik 3/25
Collect-o-Rama
Sunday, March 18 - 2:00 p.m. (Register by March 11)
Sunday, March 25 - 11:00 a.m. (Register by March 18)
Free with Museum admission, advanced reservations required
Explore and share Bat Mitzvah stories through your personal artifacts or photographs, and have your objects considered for the Museum’s collection. Click here for a detailed list of the kinds of artifacts that would be relevant for the Museum's collection.
By reserving your ticket, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions:
• All original artifacts will be documented but not collected; participants cannot leave artifacts at the Museum and must take artifacts with them at the end of the session
• Participants must be able to carry artifacts in-hand, or in a small personal bag; any large artifacts must be shared through photographs
• Participants bringing photographs of objects, where the photograph itself is not an original artifact, must leave them with Museum staff
• Only Bat Mitzvah artifacts will be documented and discussed on this date
• All participants wishing to have their artifacts considered for the Museum's collection will be required to complete an artifact questionnaire onsite; participants are not required to commit to donating their artifact during this event
• Artifacts are being considered for inclusion into the Museum's collection and not necessarily for display in the exhibition
Women's History Drop-in Tours
Sunday, March 18 - 10:30, 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 25 - 10:30, 11:30, 12:30 p.m.
Free with Museum Admission
Explore women in American Jewish history as told in our core exhibition. These free, docent-led tours are available on a first-come first served basis. Interested visitors must secure tour badges from the Membership Desk upon arrival to guarantee a spot. Tour badges are only distributed on the date of the tour.
Tallit Workshop with the Fabric Workshop and Museum
Sunday, March 18
12:30 – 1:00 p.m. Arrival & Registration
1:00 – 3:30 p.m. Workshop 
$36 per participant (includes 2 NMAJH admission tickets good for one year)
Register by March 11 to reserve your spot
Please note: this program will take place at the Fabric Workshop and Museum located at 1214 Arch Street (12th & Arch Streets) in Philadelphia.
Join the NMAJH and educators from the Fabric Workshop and Museum for this unique, hands-on activity appropriate for young women ages 11 – 15. Participants will create a tallit, the prayer shawl traditionally worn by boys and men, and more recently by girls and women upon becoming a bat mitzvah (and thereafter). The FWM is opening its studio and creating beautifully designed silk screens that participants will use to create a one-of-a-kind tallit they can take with them at the end of the workshop. Care and handling instructions will be provided.
Location and Parking: The FWM is located across the street from the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market. There is no onsite parking but ample parking nearby. The closest lot is located around the corner, on Filbert Street, between 11th & 13th Streets. Participants may also be dropped off and picked up in front of the FWM.
Important notes: Please wear old, comfortable clothes and shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty; ink will wash off hands, but not fabric. Aprons and gloves will be provided. All participants will be required to sign the Fabric Workshop and Museum’s “Hold Harmless” agreement upon arrival.
Coming of Age in America
Discussion and Keynote
Sunday, March 25
2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Members $10
Non-members $15
Leading scholars on Jewish rituals and rites of passage will discuss the history of bat mitzvah in America in the context of Women’s history and against the backdrop of coming-of-age and tweenhood in America more broadly.
• Dr. Joyce Antler is the Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish History and Culture and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, where she chairs the American Studies Program. She is the author or editor of ten books, including The Journey Home: How Jewish Women Shaped Modern America.
• Dr. Melissa R. Klapper, Professor of History at Rowan University, has conducted research on American gender studies and Jewish history, including the history of adolescence, education and women during the Gilded Age and Progressive Eras. Her publications include Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920.
• Dr. Jonathan Krasner, Associate Professor of the American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College, recently published The Benderly Boys and American Jewish Education and has co-authored the article “‘Are You There God?’ Judaism and Jewishness in Judy Blume’s Adolescent Fiction.”
• Dr. Pamela S. Nadell serves on the Museum’s historians committee, which advises on the content and presentation of the core exhibition. Nadell is the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History and is Chair of the Department of History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University.
• Moderator: Rabbi Dr. Carole B. Balin is a Professor of Jewish History at Hebrew Union College in New York. She is also a board member of Moving Traditions - the organization that created and oversees the successful program Rosh Chodesh: It's a Girl Thing! – and co-curator of the Bat Mitzvah Comes of Age project that has yielded over 130 oral histories of American bat mitzvah “firsts”.
A keynote address by Mayim Bialik will immediately follow. Ms. Bialik is best known for her portrayal of the title role on the 1990s television sitcom Blossom, her portrayal of the young Bette Midler in Beaches, and her current, critically acclaimed role as Amy Farrah Fowler on the hit sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. She will share with participants her experiences as a young, Jewish woman both on and off the set of Blossom, discuss her endeavors in the academic and entertainment worlds, and explore how her Jewish background and studies inform her work today.
Additional details will be posted here as they become available.
This program has been supported in part by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, the Federal-State Partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation.
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