How is the interest of young girls to be retained in the synagogue?
The Reform synagogue has solved this problem by its confirmation exercises. In the Orthodox and Conservative synagogues the boys dedicate themselves to the service of their people at the Bar Mitzvah age, but the girls are left out of the picture.
Many daughters of Orthodox and Conservative parents go to Reform Sunday Schools because of their desire to be confirmed. Detroit’s Conservative Shaarey Zedek Congregation has for some time been worrying over this condition and has been eager to institute a ceremony which would give the girls an interest in Jewish tradition, to the dedicatory ceremony of the boys’ Bar Mitzvah.
The result was the decision several months ago to inaugurate a new custom-a consecration service for girls.
This service is founded with the hope that it will become a tradition, and that synagogues throughout the country will follow Shaarey Zedek’s lead.
The Detroit ceremony was based on the them, “Great Woman in Israel,” and fifteen girls were consecrated.
A musical program and an address by Judge Anna Moscowitz Kross of New York completed the service.
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