This Bar/Bat Mitzvah Revolution here at Reclaiming Judaism and Bmitzvah.org began in 1993 when an encounter at a museum in Canada with a native docent lead Rabbi Goldie Milgram to recognize the 20th and now 21st century approach to b'nei mitzvah are damaging to our youth and their future engagement with Judaism. One of her sons, that very year, challenged her to create a more meaningful approach to this Jewish rite of passage for adolescents, and increasingly it is not surprising that elders want a more meaningful "redo" of the ritual of their youth.

Rabbi Milgram then entered and completed doctoral studies in regard to "reframing bar/bat mitzvah" and this website, Bmitzvah.org began at the turn of the 21st century. Her groundbreaking book, Make Your Own Bar/Bat Mitzvah: A Personal Approach to Creating a Meaningful Jewish Rite of Passage was published by Jossey-Bass Co. in 2005 and has gradually made its way to a 21st century best-seller for communities and families seeking to delete rote rites rife with memorization and replace them with a season of engaged Jewish learning and living that builds family strength, deepens communications and allows Torah and Jewish practice to speak to their hearts in contemporary ways.

Rabbi Milgram has been on the road training Jewish families, communities and educators in effective new methods of bar/bat mitzvah preparation, ritual, celebration and appreciation ever since. Over 3400 families from across the spectrum of Judaism have participated in this initiative to date. New materials, methods, principles and ideas are added with regularity.

This website is part of the umbrella non-profit founded by Rabbi Milgram in 1998, the 501C3 Reclaiming Judaism, which is dedicated to innovative program and resource development in order to facilitate meaningful engagement with Judaism among all age groups. We bring together seekers, teachers and innovators from across the full spectrum of Judaism in the pursuit of Jewish educational excellence and formation of healthy and holy approaches to klal Yisrael (the caring fullness of Jewish peoplehood). We have provided programs since 2000 in over 78 countries and 517 cities world-wide. Reclaiming Judaism Press is a non-profit subsidiary of Reclaiming Judaism. 

In our work our founder and director has been recognized by the Covenant Foundation and Reclaiming Judaism has been funded by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Myerhoff Foundation, Hadassah Foundation, Makor Ha-Lev Foundation, the Beitman Philanthropic Fund, and many others, including private donations from participants and readers. We are a 501C3 non-profit registered in the State of New York, serving internationally.

Reclaiming Judaism Press: Our publishing division, formally established in 2011, is dedicated to creating needed new resources for meaningful Jewish living which reveal the daily applications of Judaism's core spiritual practices within a context of respectful pluralism. We convene leading innovators, storytellers, rabbis, authors, and educators from across the full spectrum of Jewish life and practice as volunteers in the creation of each book and resource. All funds generated by these volumes are put toward scholarships to train Jewish educators and clergy in dynamic teaching and guidance methods for Jewish learning and living.  

Contact: Rabbi Goldie Milgram, Founder and Executive Vice President