Ritual Resources for Jewish Celebrations

Here is a sampling of resources, reflecting a diversity of Jewish practice, for planning the ritual part of your simchah/celebration. Although this booklet addresses the purchasing decisions families make when planning Jewish
celebrations, rather than the ritual decisions, these ritual choices, too, are a wonderful opportunity to creatively express your values.

Ritual Resources for Bar and Bat Mitzvah Celebrations
• Book Danny Siegel’s Bar and Bat Mitzvah Book: A Practical Guide for Changing the World Through Your Simcha by Danny Siegel (2004: The Town House Press) Order through CMS Distributing, Naomike@aol.com.
• Booklet Elijah’s Covenant Between the Generations: Curriculum & Ceremony for Teens on the Climate Crisis by Rabbis Jeff Sultar & Arthur Waskow (2008: The Shalom Center) For purchase at 215.844.8494, Greenmenorah@shalomctr.org.
• Book Make Your Own Bar/Bat Mitzvah: A Personal Approach to Creating a Meaningful Rite of Passage by Goldie Milgram (2004: Jossey-Bass)
• Book Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah by Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin (1996: Jewish Lights Publishing)
• Book For Teens Putting God on Your Guest List: How to Claim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Bar or Bat Mitzvah by Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin (1998: Jewish Lights Publishing)
• Article “A Rosh Hodesh Ceremony for Bat Mitzvah Daughters,” by Sherry Rosen, in Kerem: Creative Explorations in Judaism (Volume 6, 5759/1999) For purchase at www.kerem.org , or email langner@erols.com
• Website Ritual Well: Ceremonies for Jewish Living. New rituals for “Bat/Bar Mitzvah” at www.ritualwell.org/lifecycles/adolescence/barbatmitzvah

Ritual Resources for Jewish Commitment Ceremonies and Weddings
• Booklet Bringing the Orange Under the Huppah: Progressive Jewish Alliance Resources for Marriage Equality
(Progressive Jewish Alliance, www.pjalliance.org)
• Book chapter “Brit Ahuvim: A Marriage Between Subjects,” chapter 5 in Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics by Rachel Adler (1998: Beacon Press)
• Article “Kiddushin and Kesharin: Toward an Egalitarian Wedding Ceremony,” by Cheryl Beckerman, in Kerem: Creative Explorations in Judaism (Volume 5, 5757/Spring 1997) For purchase at www.kerem.org , or email langner@erols.com
• Article “A New Take on Kiddushin: Halakhic, Egalitarian, Non-Heterosexist,” by Shalom Flank, in Kerem: Creative Explorations in Judaism (Volume 8, 5763/2002) For purchase at www.kerem.org , or email langner@erols.com
• Book The New Jewish Wedding by Anita Diamant (2001: Simon & Schuster, Inc.)
• Book The Creative Jewish Wedding Book: A Hands-on Guide to New & Old Traditions, Ceremonies & Celebrations by Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer (2004: Jewish Lights Publishing)
• Website Ritual Well: Ceremonies for Jewish Living. New rituals for “Intimacy & Partnering” at www.ritualwell.org/lifecycles/intimacypartnering
• Program The wedding of Tamara Cohen and Gwynn Kessler, 2004 from The Jewish Women’s Archive:http://jwa.org/feminism/_html/JWA100.htm

Resources for Green and Just Jewish Living

Resources for Greener Commitment Ceremonies and Weddings
• Book Eco-Chic Weddings: Simple Tips to Plan an Environmentally Friendly, Socially Responsible, Affordable, and Stylish Celebration by Emily Elizabeth Anderson (2007: Hatherleigh Press)
• Website Great Green Wedding www.greatgreenwedding.com
• Book Green Weddings That Don’t Cost the Earth, by Carol Reed-Jones (1996: Paper Crane Press)
• Book Organic Weddings: Balancing Ecology, Style and Tradition by Michelle Kozin (2003: New Society Publishers)
• Online Magazine Portovert, “The exclusive wedding magazine for eco-savvy brides and grooms.” www.portovert.com
• Book The Green Bride Guide: How to Create an Earth-friendly Wedding on any Budget by Kate L. Harrison (Forthcoming December 2008: Sourcebooks) Read excerpts and order at www.thegreenbrideguide.com .

Jewish Resources for Green and Just Purchasing
• Booklet Caring for the Cycle of Life: Creating Environmentally Sound Life-Cycle Celebrations by Mark X. Jacobs
(The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, www.coejl.org)
• Website Fair Trade Judaica by Ilana Schatz & David Lingren. www.fairtradejudaica.org
• Booklet Food for Thought: Hazon’s Curriculum on Jews, Food, and Contemporary Life by Nigel Savage & Anna Stevenson (2007: Hazon, www.hazon.org )
• Article “Simplicity as a Jewish Path” in Reconstructionism Today by Rabbi Moti Rieber & Betsy Platkin Teutsch (Winter 2002/2003: Jewish Reconstructionist Federation) www.jrf.org/showrt&rid=529
• Book Jews, Money, and Social Responsibility: Developing a “Torah of Money” for Contemporary Life by Lawrence Bush & Jeffrey Dekro (1993: The Shefa Fund)
• Booklet No Shvitz: Your One Stop Guide to Fighting Sweatshops
(Progressive Jewish Alliance, www.pjalliance.org/UserFiles/File/PDF/OrderShvitz.pdf )

Resources for Greener Purchasing, Socially Responsible Investing, and Simpler Living
• Directory National Green Pages™ (2008: Co-op America/Green America) Search free at www.greenpages.org , 800.58.GREEN
• Booklet Guide to Ending Sweatshops (2008: Co-op America/Green America) Free download from www.sweatshops.org, or order free for the price of shipping at info@coopamerica.org, or call 800.58.GREEN.
• Booklet Guide to Fair Trade (2007: Co-op America/Green America) Free download from www.fairtradeaction.org , or order free for
price of shipping at info@coopamerica.org, or 800.58.GREEN.
• Booklet Guide to Socially Responsible Investing (2008: Co-op America/Green America) $6 from info@coopamerica.org, or 800.58.GREEN
• Booklet Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture (Revised edition 2006: Center for a New American Dream) Free download from http://www.newdream.org/kids/brochure.php.
• Book What Kids Really Want That Money Can’t Buy: Tips for Parenting in
a Commercial Culture, by Betsy Taylor (Center for a New American Dream)
$14 from www.newdream.org/publications .