DeGruyter Oldenbourg, December 2024, ISBN: 9783111369709. 313 Pages.

A MOVING FEAST: THE BAR AND BAT MITZVAH ACROSS JEWISH CULTURES

Hizky Shoham offers a comprehensive anthropological history of the bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies that seeks to understand why not only have these ceremonies been preserved, but are in fact celebrated by more Jewish families and demand greater financial, psychological, and family resources than ever before. The book maps and analyzes the transformation of the rituals in the modern age and endeavors to understand their meanings for the celebrants and other participants in the diverse historical contexts in which the ceremony appeared.

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111370118/html

Hizky Shoham is head of the program for hermeneutics and cultural studies at Bar-Ilan University.