Ask an average 12-year-old girl what she’s doing for her Bat Mitzvah, and there’s a good chance she’ll say, “having a big party.” But ask the same question of a member of the Bat Mitzvah Club, and you’ll hear about celebrating Jewish identity, performing community service, and exploring her own uniqueness and personal strengths, as well as having a lot of fun.

From London to Los Angeles, Hong Kong to Houston, Brooklyn to Boca Raton and more than 170 cities in between, including right here in Potomac, Md, pre-teen girls are having the time of their lives while discovering what it really means to become a Bat Mitzvah and to be a Jewish woman.

Known as a club “for girls, run by girls, and starring girls,” the Bat Mitzvah Club enables girls to learn, grow, and get involved in their community and Jewish life. Members help plan and run meetings and activities, share ideas, and express their thoughts on being a young Jewish woman in the modern world. Through creative art projects, community service activities such as visiting the elderly and infirmed, journal writing in specially designed club journals, plenty of socializing, and more, the girls—with the help of an adult facilitator—are empowered to be themselves while feeling great about being Jewish.

Unlike a Bar Mitzvah, Jewish tradition does not prescribe any set rituals for a Bat Mitzvah, which marks a girl’s spiritual and religious “coming of age” at 12. Customs on marking this milestone vary widely from community to community and family to family—with some throwing lavish parties and others ignoring the milestone altogether.

Through the Bat Mitzvah Club, a project of Tzivos Hashem, one of the largest Jewish children’s organizations in the world, Jewish girls of all backgrounds and levels of religious observance have the opportunity to make their Bat Mitzvah one of the most meaningful experiences of their young lives. Whether a girl celebrates with a large reception or a simple lunch with family and close friends, the Bat Mitzvah Club gives her the best gifts of all—self confidence, Jewish pride, and long-lasting friendships.

The first meeting of the Potomac Bat Mitzvah Club for the 2019-2020 school year will be held on Sunday, October 6 from 4:30pm-6:30pm at Chabad of Potomac. To register click here or for more information, call Sara at 240-621-0770.