Bobbie Schwartz (center) and Marilyn Ellman prepare for their upcoming b'not mitzvah with Rabbi Lewis Eron, Jewish community chaplain and director of religious services at Lions Gate. Though most young ladies experience their official coming of age when they celebrate their bat mitzvah at 12 or 13 years old, nine remarkable women are enjoying this milestone much later in life. With the guidance of Rabbi Lewis Eron, the Jewish community chaplain and director of religious services at Lions Gate, a continuing care retirement community affiliated with the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, these 77- to 92-year-old-women are studying hard for their long awaited b'not mitzvah. The ceremony will take place on Rosh Chodesh, Sunday Oct. 18 at Adath Emanu-El in Mt. Laurel.

According to Eron, Lillian Bennon, Anna Cohen, Marilyn Ellman, Estelle Gitler, Evelyn Grosby, Estelle Kushner, Bobbie Schwartz, Jessie Stern, and Rose Weber all appreciate the opportunity to affirm their Jewish identity and gain an experience that hadn't been available to them when they were young. "It's also an intergenerational bonding as they're sharing an experience with their daughters, granddaughters and even greatgranddaughters."

Evelyn Grosby, a resident of Gesher House in Cherry Hill, is enjoying this learning experience. "I feel like that wasn't a privilege of mine when I was 12 or 13, and it wasn't fair to women," she said. "I always wanted to have a bat mitzvah but never got to it, and when they offered it here, and I do have the time, I decided to take advantage of it. I like to learn things and I'm very fortunate that I'm still able to."

Her greatest challenge is reading the unfamiliar words in the Torah portion. "I go to services, so a lot of it I know, but now I've learned to read some of the Torah. I hope I can do it!" Grosby's family is sure she can,

with her grandchil- dren rooting her on. "They are thrilled to death!" she pointed out, especially her grandd aughter who is currently in Israel.

Eron is sure all of the women will do a wonderful job. "They are working very, very hard," he said. "Many of them came from no real Jewish educational background. Having to learn the letters and how to pronounce these strange words, and if they had any Hebrew it would be old Yiddish inflected Ashkenazic Hebrew. This was really a great adventure for all of them."

The women are putting in a lot of time to learn their portions of the service. Though Eron meets with the women every other week, Estelle Gitler has taken it upon herself to lead additional study sessions with the women who live in the Saltzman House. "The rabbi was only coming every other week, and from one time to the next it was hard for us to remember," she said. "So I got started teaching them by myself every Monday afternoon and we were teaching ourselves more or less how to read Hebrew."

Gitler found the experience "very exciting because that's the furthest thing that I ever thought of or considered. I played it down for my family because I really didn't know if we'd go through with it. Now that it's getting close to the date, it's getting exciting. Now I can really read Hebrew and follow at the age of 79."

"It's a pleasure watching them," said Eron. "They are very inspiring to see the dedication they have and the excitement they have. They are really facing some serious obstacles, including the obstacle of age and the fact that for many of them, their eyesight isn't perfect and their hearing isn't perfect. You know how it is when we get older—it's just harder to learn things."

In addition to achieving a great milestone, these women have formed wonderful friendships as they support and encourage each other through the difficult process.

"At first, the women were very apprehensive," said Susan Douthitt, activities director at Gesher and Dubin Houses. Gesher, Dubin, and the Saltzman House are part of Jewish Federation Senior Housing & Healthcare Service. Douthitt helped spearhead the event. "They didn't think that they could do it at their age. When they finally got to that light bulb moment when they knew they could do it, they were so proud of themselves. I'm really proud of them!"

"There is something eternally youthful about people," Eron said. "I think that the process of studying and learning keeps our minds sharp and our spirits young. That's something I've always believed in but this has been made very clear to me with the enthusiasm and the spirit and the joy that all these women have in attacking what I think is a very difficult task."

Eron said that it is fortuitous that the women will read from the special reading for Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon celebration. "The celebration of Rosh Chodesh had a special significance for Jewish woman. Traditionally, it is a day of rest for them in honor of the loyalty the women of Israel showed to God at the time of the Golden Calf." .