When they were approaching their teenage years, becoming a Bat Mitzvah was not so common for girls in their community. The three women from the Detroit, Michigan, area made up for it on their recent Hadassah Purim Mission to Israel.

At their joint Bat Mitzvahin the Hadassah Medical Organization’s Abbell Synagogue, surrounded by its world-famous Chagall windows, Gail Gotthelf and Maxine Mondshine, of Southfield, and Robin Kaufman, of East Bloomfield, marked a different kind of “coming of age.” Kaufman relates, “I can’t think of any other place in the world where I would want to fulfill this dream. The neshama, the soul, of this sanctuary inspires us all.” For Mondshine, the ceremony marks more involvement in good causes, particularly Hadassah. For Gotthelf, the ceremony “affirms and intensifies a long-term commitment to Jewish community and values.”

Hadassah Offices in Israel Deputy Director Barbara Goldstein presided over the Bat Mitzvah ceremony.