Bar and Bat Mitzvah Trips to Israel: Variations on a Theme of Affirmation
Publication Date: January 2000
Publisher(s): Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education
Author(s): Lisa D. Grant
Special Collection: Berman Jewish Policy Archive
Keywords: American Jews; Israel experience; Jewish identification
Coverage: United States
This article examines the motivation for and the impact of family trips to Israel during the year the child becomes bar or bat-mitzvah. First, it situates this phenomenon in the broad context of American Jewish life as a new variation on an old ritual; second, it describes how different families and different kinds of trips enact the ritual itself and how the bar/bat-mitzvah fits within the overall structure of their Israel trips.