Rites of Passage – Amish and Jewish Cultures
Student Name
ANT 101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Instructor
Date Rites of Passage – Amish and Jewish Cultures
Many cultures in the world have traditional rites of passage that may seem strange to others. According to Crapo, rites of passages are “ceremonies… [undergone] whenever a member of society undergoes an important change in the status within the lifecycle of the group” (Crapo, 2013, p181). Rites of passage ceremonies are powerful and moving in beliefs that bring each person into his or her own path in life. Both Amish and Jewish cultures hold strong traditional and religious beliefs that are incorporated into every day activities. Traditional rites of passage can be special moments in any individual’s lifecycle, particularly when puberty or adulthood rituals occur.
For many centuries the Amish have largely remained separated from the English. The Amish community refers to anyone outside of the Amish culture as English. Most Amish communities do not rely on the use of electricity, television, motorized vehicles and tractors. Women and men in the Amish culture live their lives with humility and submission to God, as well as, their parents and to the community and control their desires and reject luxurious and worldly pleasures (Films Media Group, 2005). The Amish do not believe in baptizing the younger individuals in the community. Rather they believe in allowing the young the opportunity to make a decision to remain within the Amish community or to venture out into the English world. “Rumspringa is a Pennsylvania Dutch term, usually translated as ‘running around’” (Shachtman, 2006, p. 10). At the age of 16 – 19, Amish girls’ and boys’ partake in a ritual called rumspringa. Since the youth in the Amish communities are not baptized, they are “not subject to the church’s rules about permitted and forbidden behaviors” and can experience activities the elders can no longer partake in (Shachtman, 2006, p. 11). For many youth, rumspringa is the first time in their lives that they are on their own in the outside world. Many youth still live at home with their parents during this time in their lifecycle and typically only engaging in activities that are not considered “wild” by church officials, such as bowling or Sunday singings (Shachtman, 2006, p. 11). Since the youth in Amish communities are not held in the same standards as their forefathers and foremothers, they have permissions to do things that they have not done before. This can often lead to activities that take place on back roads, like parties in which illegal substances are passed between the youth. Since the youth have not been baptized into the Amish community, the elders and parents often turn a blind eye to these activities while the youth is in rumspringa.
Many elder and parents fear that setting the youth loose in the outside world means that the youth will not return or that because of the rumspringa experience in the “English” world. These experiences will leave their youth with an altered outlook that compromise the church’s ability to sustain itself (Shachtman, 2006, p. 15). However, the belief is that the Amish youth will be able to see and experience the temptations of the outside world before making the ultimate decision to remain within the Amish community. Once the decision to remain in the Amish community is made, the adolescent will then become baptized. Where they are to remain in the Amish community and live the Amish way of life for the rest of their lives. Tom Shachtman writes, according to Thomas J. Meyers, “more than 80 percent of Amish youth do eventually become Amish church members” and “in some areas, the retention rate exceeds 90 percent” (Meyers as reference by Shachtman, 2006, p. 14).
There are many rites of passage within the Jewish community as well. One of the traditional rites of passage in adolescents is the bar/bat mitzvah; “the term bar/bat mitzvah means ‘son or daughter of the commandment or duty’” (Mail, 1997, p. 64). At the age of 13, a Jewish boy or girls makes a binding vow in which he or she becomes a full member of the Jewish community.
During the bar/bat mitzvah rite of passage an adolescent must separate one’s self from childhood and maturity, where he or she will remain in a “between” stage. While within this “between” phase “the adolescent initiate is dependent on the guidance and authority of parents and teachers” in preparation of the biblical reading. The youth will also learn the spiritual and ethical aspects of what it means to be a Jew and to fulfill the commandments. Finally, during and after the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony the boy or girl’s status within the Jewish community is recognized to a greater autonomy (Mail, 1997, p. 65).
These rites of passage are largely the same within most Jewish communities but can vary within the Orthodox and Progressive Jewish comminutes due to denominational philosophies. Only within the last century has the bat mitzvah become an accepted ceremony within the United States (Mail, 1997, p. 65). In recent history the bar/bat mitzvah has become a symbolization of autonomy, independence, educational achievement and commemorates the youth as a full member of the Jewish community.
Even with the youth of Jewish communities competing the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony, there is a growing concern within Jewish communities about the decline in the Jewish community size “from 405,000 to 300,000 in 30 years” largely because of separation from their religious heritage or marrying non-Jews (Mail, 1997, p 59). Mail writes, according to Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Jewish education holds the key to the vitality of our community, intellectually, spiritually, and even demographically” (Mail, 1997, p 59). With so many youth deserting their Jewish education within a year or two of completely their bar/bat mitzvah the concern to keep Jewish religious heritage alive continues to grow. As a way to instill the importance of religious heritage many youth partake in additional rites of passage within their lifecycles. At the ages of 16- 18, the majority of Jewish teenagers participate in the “Israel experience”. The Israel experience in “an organized visit to Israel with their peers”; which is often described as “the spark which sets off an examination of their Jewish identity” (Mail, 1997, p. 61).
At the age of 16 – 18 it is also believed that adolescent are at an age that is acceptable to be away from family in order to “internalize the educational components of these tours” (Mail, 1997, p. 60). According to Mail, “Only the Israel-oriented youth groups report healthy levels of participation from the teenage population”, ages 13 – 18 (Mail, 1997, p. 61). Lives within the Jewish communities are regulated by twin spiritual ideals: the study of Jewish sacred texts and strict fulfillment of all religious precepts (Bilu, 2003, p.173).
While ten percent of the ultraorthodox Jewish individuals live within Israel, which is estimated to be six hundred thousand Israeli Jews (Bilu, 2003, p. 172). An ethnographical experience seems to be a great way to instill the Jewish religious heritage into the youth of Jewish communities. In comparison, both Amish and Jewish cultures share views of empiricism and “solidarity among members of the group who go through the ceremony together” (Crapo, 2013, p. 164). Empiricism is “the belief that knowledge comes from direct experience” (Crapo, 2013, p 30). The Amish believe that emersion into English culture will help the youth to fully appreciate and embrace their Judeo-Christian ethos. Whereas, the Jewish communities focus on emersion into their own culture in hope to bring appreciation and cultural fulfillment in Jewish heritage.
Puberty or adulthood rituals are rituals that “signals the transition from childhood to adulthood and impresses on both the child and his or her community that the old roles of childhood are to be set aside and that she or he should be treated as an adult” (Crapo, 2013, p. 164). To the outside world many of these cultural rites of passage remain strange and obscure but within the Amish and Jewish cultures these rites of passage mark significant spiritual and moral changes in the life cycle of each individual.

References
Bilu, Y. (2003). From milah (circumcision) to milah (word): Male identity and rituals of childhood in the Jewish Ultraorthodox Community. Ethos. 31(2), 172-203. Retrieved from JSTOR database.
Crapo, R. H. (2013). Cultural anthropology. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.
Mail, A.S. (1997, November). An exploration of the impact of the Israel experience upon Bar/Bat Mitzvah students: Rites of passage from progressive Jewish teenagers. Journal of Progressive Judaism, 9, 59-82. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
The America of the Amish [Film]. (2005). Retrieved from Films of Demand database.
Shachtman, T. (2006). Rumspringa: To be or not to bed Amish. Retrieved from http://books.google.com
Annotated Bibliography
Bilu, Y. (2003). From milah (circumcision) to milah (word): Male identity and rituals of childhood in the Jewish Ultraorthodox Community. Ethos. 31(2), 172-203. Retrieved from JSTOR database.
This article describes the contemporary Jewish ultraorthodox communities within Israel and the Rites of passage; from brit milah (circumcision), the bar mitzvah and the physical transformation that mark the milestones in development and the supreme values of the Torah.
Crapo, R. H. (2013). Cultural anthropology. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Crapo provides insightful information about cultural anthropology. Specifically in regards to the rites of passage and puberty and adulthood rituals.

Mail, A.S. (1997, November). An exploration of the impact of the Israel experience upon Bar/Bat Mitzvah students: Rites of passage from progressive Jewish teenagers. Journal of Progressive Judaism, 9, 59-82. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.
This is a scholarly source that provides insightful information about the rites of passage within the Jewish culture and the importance of preserving the Jewish heritage within the youth of the community.
The America of the Amish [Film]. (2005). Retrieved from Films of Demand database. This is an educational film providing information on the Amish culture, families and the youth. The film provides insight on Amish cultural practices in education, religion and business. Amish beliefs of what are acceptable have change in many ways, yet still hold many of the same values it has always had.
Shachtman, T. (2006). Rumspringa: To be or not to bed Amish. Retrieved from http://books.google.com Tom Shachtman provides first hand encounters of youth within the Amish community who are experiencing the rumspringa rite of passage. Providing insight on both the good and the bad that the youth experience when entering into the unknown of English culture before making the ultimate choice to remain within the Amish community and to abandon worldly pleasures for good.