In New York City, which synagogue hosted Judith Kaplan Eisenstein’s landmark 1922 bat mitzvah?

The Society for the Advancement of Judaism hosted Judith Kaplan Eisenstein’s landmark 1922 bat mitzvah.

The congregation was founded by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, whose ideas later developed into Reconstructionist Judaism. Its New York setting provided an important institutional home for experiments in Jewish communal practice, including the public religious milestone celebrated by Kaplan Eisenstein in 1922.

Kaplan Eisenstein was Kaplan’s daughter, and her ceremony is often cited in histories of the modern bat mitzvah. She read from the Torah after the regular service, a format that differed from many later ceremonies in which a celebrant may lead parts of the service or read from the main platform.

The synagogue’s name is sometimes confused with the broader Reconstructionist movement. The Society for the Advancement of Judaism was a specific congregation, while Reconstructionist Judaism became a distinct Jewish movement over time. That distinction matters when identifying the exact location connected with the 1922 event.