{"id":403581,"date":"2022-02-05T03:04:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-05T00:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/rabbis-react-to-they-mitzvah-on-and-just-like-that-season-finale\/"},"modified":"2022-02-05T03:04:34","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T00:04:34","slug":"rabbis-react-to-they-mitzvah-on-and-just-like-that-season-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/rabbis-react-to-they-mitzvah-on-and-just-like-that-season-finale\/","title":{"rendered":"#Rabbis react to &#8216;they mitzvah&#8217; on &#8216;And Just Like That&#8217; season finale"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Rabbis react to &#8216;they mitzvah&#8217; on &#8216;And Just Like That&#8217; season finale<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Mazel Tov is getting Mazel Tough-er for some families.<\/p>\n<p>In the final episodes of \u201cAnd Just Like That\u201d on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/trk.hbomax.com\/aff_c?offer_id=5&amp;aff_id=1020&amp;source=dec\">HBO Max<\/a>, Charlotte York-Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) helped her nonbinary child, Rock, prepare for their traditional Jewish coming-of-age ceremony. Typically, bar and bat mitzvahs, in which 13-year-old boys and 12-year-old girls are welcomed into adulthood and called up to the Torah for the first time, are divided by gender.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want a bat mitzvah,\u201d Rock tells their mom. <\/p>\n<p>Charlotte, ever the cheerleader, reassures her child: \u201cThat\u2019s why you\u2019re having a \u2018they mitzvah\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such celebrations aren\u2019t limited to fictional portrayals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not uncommon,\u201d Rabbi Mike Moskowitz told The Post of gender-nonconforming mitzvahs for Jewish tweens. <\/p>\n<p>As the scholar-in-residence for Trans and Queer Jewish Studies at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST), a progressive congregation in Midtown, Moskowitz said that increasingly, kids are chafing at the gendered nature of this religious rite of passage. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/cathy-ang-kristin-davis-alexa-swinton-evan-handler.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Charlotte and Harry Goldenblatt celebrated nonbinary child Rock's 'they mitzvah&quot; with their other daughter Lily (left) on the season finale of &quot;And Just Like That.&quot;\" class=\"wp-image-21095489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/cathy-ang-kristin-davis-alexa-swinton-evan-handler.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/cathy-ang-kristin-davis-alexa-swinton-evan-handler.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/cathy-ang-kristin-davis-alexa-swinton-evan-handler.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Charlotte and Harry Goldenblatt dreamed up a \u201cthey mitzvah\u201d to celebrate their child Rock (in pink) on \u201cAnd Just Like That.\u201d <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Craig Blankenhorn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s abrasive for them, it rubs them the wrong way,\u201d the rabbi said. <\/p>\n<p>But the show\u2019s signature joke-y style belies one reality \u2014 \u201cthey\u201d mitzvah, as a term, isn\u2019t really a thing. Rather, families are going with the gender-neutral b\u2019nai mitzvah (plural for bar or bat mitzvah) or \u201cb-mitvah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no industry standard,\u201d said Moskowitz, who studied in an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva. \u201cBut the term is less significant than what it actually represents. And what it represents is reaching the age of consent, the age of being responsible for one\u2019s actions or inactions, in a way that reflects one\u2019s gender identity.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Keshet, an organization that supports equality for all Jews, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.keshetonline.org\/resources\/a-guide-for-the-gender-neutral-b-mitzvah\/\">has a guide<\/a> for the \u201cgender neutral b-mitzvah\u201d that\u2019s \u201cpart of a Jewish tradition that is continuously evolving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But others in the Jewish community said they liked the \u201cSex and the City\u201d sanctioned term. \u201c[\u2018They mitzvah\u2019] is clever,\u201d said Rabbi Tamara R. Cohen, VP, Chief of Program Strategy for Moving Traditions, a Jewish organization that emphasizes <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.movingtraditions.org\">inclusiveness for young people<\/a>. \u201cI think it really does validate the experience of young people today. The truth is, people are experimenting with different names. We call it a b-mitzvah right now \u2026 It\u2019s a way of using a non-gendered term.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cohen, who told The Post that she grew up with a conservative Jewish upbringing, struggled with reconciling her homosexuality and religion in her own community coming out as a lesbian. \u201cI felt like I did have to choose between my sexuality and being accepted in the Jewish community. It was extremely painful,\u201d she said, noting that it was a time when gays couldn\u2019t be role models or rabbis, which has since changed. Shows like this help alter perceptions, she said, even if there\u2019s a fine line between making a joke, and making a point.<\/p>\n<p>In the final episode, Charlotte scrambles to find a rabbi to preside over the \u201cthey mitzvah\u201d after another clergy member backs out, citing Rock\u2019s unpreparedness. (Ultimately, Rock decided not to go through with it, and Charlotte decided to undergo the rite of passage.)<\/p>\n<p>Experts say such a reaction from a rabbi isn\u2019t realistic. \u201cGender identity aside, no self-respecting member of the clergy would be so judgmental towards a child\u2019s lack of preparation. The goal is to make the experience welcoming and meaningful,\u201d said Cantor Lauren Phillips Fogelman of Temple Israel of Northern Westchester. <\/p>\n<p>Overall, respecting a young person\u2019s needs and feelings is critical during this milestone, said Moskowitz. \u201cWhen we think about welcoming someone into the Jewish people as adulthood, we\u2019re recognizing who they are. So we rely on them to tell us who they are.\u00a0You tell us who you are and we\u2019ll support you in that identity.\u201d\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/02\/04\/rabbis-react-to-they-mitzvah-on-and-just-like-that-season-finale\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Rabbis react to &#8216;they mitzvah&#8217; on &#8216;And Just Like That&#8217; season finale&#8221; Mazel Tov is getting Mazel Tough-er for some families. In the final episodes of \u201cAnd Just Like That\u201d on HBO Max, Charlotte York-Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) helped her nonbinary child, Rock, prepare for their traditional Jewish coming-of-age ceremony. Typically, bar and bat mitzvahs, in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":403582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/02\/gender-neutral-jewish.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[125481,125493,56253,57715,76839,73020],"class_list":["post-403581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2-4-22","tag-bar-mitzvahs","tag-gender","tag-gender-identity","tag-judaism","tag-sex-and-the-city"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}