The Book of Psalms states that “the span of our life is 70 years.” Some consider those who have lived beyond that biblical projection as having started a new life cycle.
At age 83, 13 years after their new start, some Jewish people choose to have a second bar or bat mitzvah. Rabbi Linda Steigman just celebrated hers.
Rabbi Steigman’s second bat mitzvah took place on April 25 at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah. Alongside Rabbi Caitlin Brazner and Music Director Laura Payne on the bimah, she did everything one would expect a bat mitzvah to do at B’nai Jehudah — lead prayers, read from the Torah, give a sermon and celebrate with her family.
“Having this bat mitzvah at the age of 83 is, in a very real way, a culmination of my commitment to Judaism in all its depth and beauty,” she said in her sermon. “I pray for many more years to continue to live as a Jew, surrounded by family and friends, passing down my values to the next generation.”
Many of Rabbi Steigman’s friends and family came to celebrate. She gave three Aliyot to groups of her loved ones: the first to six of her colleagues (five rabbis and a cantor); the second to extended family and friends; and the third to her children, grandchildren and sister. She herself had the fourth Aliyah and did the Torah reading for Parashat Kedoshim.
The presence of her children, Stephen Steigman and Ellen Steigman, and grandchildren was particularly touching for Rabbi Steigman.
“Usually at a bar or bat mitzvah, the parents will talk to the kid,” she told The Chronicle. “I asked my children to talk to me, and that was really lovely and meaningful.”
Rabbi Steigman prepared for her bat mitzvah alongside Rabbi Brazner, to whom she also expressed appreciation.
“Working with Rabbi Steigman as she prepared for her second bat mitzvah was such a meaningful reminder that Jewish growth and engagement doesn’t stop — it keeps unfolding over a lifetime,” Rabbi Brazner said. “To stand alongside Rabbi Steigman as she embraced this opportunity was deeply fulfilling for me and served as a beautiful reminder of our tradition’s call to continuously wrestle with our Torah.”
Her children were also present at her first bat mitzvah, which took place when she was 42 years old, not yet a rabbi, and living in Philadelphia.
“When I grew up, very few girls went to Hebrew school or had a bat mitzvah,” she said. “I grew up in a Reform congregation, and the emphasis was on confirmation… but as time went on, I decided I wanted to [have a bat mitzvah], and I did it with a good friend.”
Rabbi Linda Steigman at her second bat mitzvah on April 25 at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah
In addition to encouragement from her rabbi and friend, her son also gave her a push.
“Stephen said in his bar mitzvah speech on Dec. 1, 1984 that, ‘If my mom studies, she’ll have her bat mitzvah in February,’ which everyone kind of laughed at,” Rabbi Steigman said.
Her first bat mitzvah was just one step in Rabbi Steigman’s lifelong Jewish journey. It started when she was a young girl in Chicago, going on to attend the first Reform Jewish summer camp and remain involved in Jewish life. Moving to Philadelphia in her 30s, she received a Master of Social Work from Bryn Mawr College and worked in counseling and education for the city’s Jewish Family Services. She then worked for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism).
Not yet a rabbi, she moved to New York City to take a job with National Hadassah. When out to lunch with a friend, she was told that she’d make a good rabbi. After being assured that her age would not be a barrier to the rabbinate, she was encouraged to apply to Hebrew Union College and begin studying. Her studies took her to Jerusalem (where she said many of her classmates were younger than her own children) and Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2004, Rabbi Steigman was ordained in New York at the age of 61.
After serving at congregations in Virginia and Pennsylvania, she decided to come to Kansas City to be near her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. She has served as the rabbi at the former Temple Adath Joseph in St. Joseph, Missouri, a teacher at Congregation Beth Torah and many more roles for various community synagogues and organizations. She still teaches today at B’nai Jehudah.
“I try and teach [students] not just what they have to read or sing, but what it means… and what it’s all about in the context of being Jewish,” she said about her teaching philosophy.
Rabbi Steigman was familiar with the idea of a second bat mitzvah, but it took a push from her friend Rabbi Batsheva Appel (currently of Tulsa, Oklahoma) for it to happen.
“In January 2025, I had a very bad case of pneumonia and was in the hospital for three weeks,” Rabbi Steigman said, “and [Rabbi Appel] told me, ‘The reason I asked you to [have a second bat mitzvah] is because I wanted to give you something to look forward to,’ which was so wise of her… I will be forever grateful to her for giving me something to look forward to.”
Now a double bat mitzvah with decades of Jewish and rabbinic experience under her belt, Rabbi Steigman vows to “keep on doing what I’ve been doing” — tutoring, offering chaplain services, teaching and more.
“That’s what I see as my role now,” she said. “My goal is to pass [Judaism] down to the next generation.”
