MaBat is an annual program for girls aged 11 to 13 who are approaching the time of Bat Mitzvah, accompanied by their mother, father or another significant adult.

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In Hebrew, mabat means “gaze,” “outlook” or “perspective,” while bat means “daughter.” The name expresses the program’s central invitation: to pause and develop a perspective of one’s own on identity, the body, memory, belonging and the world that the girls are beginning to inhabit with greater autonomy.

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MaBat is not a religious or institutional preparation for Bat Mitzvah. It is a symbolic process accompanying the transition into adolescence, inspired by Jewish culture and developed from a feminist, progressive, pluralistic and contemporary perspective.

Between the ages of 11 and 13, girls undergo significant changes. Their bodies change, emotions intensify, the opinions of their peers acquire new importance and relationships within the family begin to shift. Questions emerge about who they are, how they wish to present themselves, what they need to protect and what place they want to occupy.

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Bat Mitzvah can offer a cultural and symbolic framework through which to accompany this moment. Instead of understanding it solely as a celebration or the fulfilment of a religious obligation, MaBat approaches it as an opportunity to begin a process of reflection, dialogue and shared growth.

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Some readings of Jewish mysticism understand this age as the awakening of a more autonomous consciousness and an expanding capacity for discernment. A young person begins to recognise that her actions have consequences and that she can consciously participate in transforming her surroundings.

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MaBat draws on this idea without imposing any particular belief. Spirituality is approached as the possibility of finding meaning, connection and depth in everyday experiences. An action can become meaningful when it is carried out with awareness: listening, repairing, caring, creating, setting a boundary, protecting nature or responding to injustice.

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The Jewish calendar as a map for growth

The program consists of eight monthly sessions, linked primarily to moments in the Jewish calendar, followed by a final gathering in nature.

The holidays are not studied solely as historical or religious events. Each one opens a question connected to growing up:

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• Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur invite us to think about beginnings, choices and repair.

• Sukkot offers an opportunity to explore home, vulnerability and community.

• Shabbat invites us to pause and care for our time.

• Hanukkah asks how we can discover and share our own light.

• Tu Bishvat connects personal growth with the earth.

• Purim creates a space to speak about identity, masks, protection and voice.

• Passover introduces questions about freedom and our responsibility in the face of injustice.

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The menstrual cycle and bodily changes are also addressed in a dedicated session. They are approached with clear information, respect for different experiences and a symbolic perspective on cycles, without presenting menstruation as a condition of womanhood or a measure of maturity.

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A feminist and pluralistic perspective

Jewish texts and stories are read through contemporary questions. We pay particular attention to the women within these stories, as well as to those who have sustained cultural transmission through food, storytelling, songs, care and everyday life.

We do not seek to offer fixed interpretations. We want the girls to be able to question, disagree, reconstruct and discover what these stories might mean in their own lives.

Jewish identity is presented as diverse and continually evolving. It may be cultural, familial, historical, spiritual, communal or a changing combination of all these dimensions. There is also room for different kinds of families, different ways of belonging, stories of migration, multiple identities and questions that do not yet have answers.

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Creating in order to understand

Each session combines conversation, texts, sensory experiences and a different artistic activity. We work with:

• Collage and drawing.

• Painting and writing.

• Sewing and embroidery.

• Bread-making.

• Candles and installations.

• Masks and theatre.

• Movement and meditation.

• Land art and planting.

• Family objects and photographs.

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Creativity is not understood as a skill reserved for those who “know how to make art,” but as a form of knowledge. Creating allows us to express what cannot yet be explained in words, try out different identities, formulate questions and give shape to change.

Each girl works with her own MaBat journal. It is a personal archive in which she can gather images, phrases, drawings, photographs, reflections, recipes, questions and discoveries. It is not a school notebook and will not be evaluated. Some pages may be shared, while others may remain private.

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Roots: a journey towards our origins

Roots represent our origins and what sustains us. Although we cannot always see them, they connect us with the people, stories and places that existed before us.

Each girl carries memories, migrations, languages, recipes, decisions, silences and values that began long before she was born and that continue to be transformed through her.

Roots is the connecting thread of the program. It begins in September and develops through a series of small family missions.

The purpose is not to construct a perfect family tree, but to approach one’s own history with curiosity: to understand where we come from, what we wish to preserve and what we want to transform.

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Absences, silences, contradictions, adoption, chosen families and what remains unknown may all form part of the story.

The activities take approximately 20 to 40 minutes and can be completed weekly or every two weeks.

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Growing with the support of others

MaBat recognises that the transition into adolescence belongs to each girl, but that it does not have to be experienced alone. Families and significant adults participate in certain activities, conversations and ritual moments.

Their role is not to tell the girls who they should become, but to offer memory, listening and support. The program seeks to create new channels of conversation between generations and to help adults accompany these changes without intruding on the girls’ privacy or bringing their questions to a close too quickly.

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A closing ritual

The process concludes with a collective gathering in nature. There, each girl may share part of her journey: a story, a creation, a page from her journal, an interpretation of her parashah or a meaningful object.

The adults offer each girl a letter of recognition and support. Each participant also formulates a conscious action or personal commitment for the new stage that is beginning.

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This gathering is not intended to certify that the participants have become adults. On the contrary, it recognises that they still need care, guidance and time. The ritual marks that something has begun to change and that the community is present to accompany that transformation.

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MaBat invites us to see Bat Mitzvah as a threshold: a moment to recognise our roots, listen to the body, develop a voice of our own and begin to ask not only, “Who am I?” but also, “How do I want to be in the world?”