Thursday, October 1, 2026
In Judaism, it is a rite of passage for a girl to become a bat mitzvah — an adult in the eyes of God — at age 12. Pnina Knopf became one 63 years later, at 75.
As a girl takes her place in the Jewish community, it is celebrated with creative projects, parties and other gatherings. Most important, the girl prepares for months for a special bat mitzvah service.
Knopf, of East Rockaway, the mother of three grown children, a grandmother of three and a member of the Hewlett-East Rockaway Jewish Centre, has wanted to become a bat mitzvah her entire life. “I’ve been counting down the years my whole life, since I was 12 years old,” she said. “Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, in a conservative Jewish family, only male children had a bar mitzvah.”
Knopf fulfilled her dream on Dec. 20, the day before her 75th birthday.
She had searched for a deeper connection to Judaism after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel. “After Oct. 7 I was distraught,” she recounted. “I have 40-plus relatives living there, and I was terrified for my family. I did not belong to a temple, and after the war broke out, I felt a need for a community of people who understood me and believed in what I did.”
Her journey began when she met the Jewish Centre’s executive director, Lisa Stein, and then Rabbi Michel Schlesinger, on Nov. 3, 2023.
“Lisa was my first liaison to HERJC,” Knopf said. “It was really a returning home, because my children went to HERJC when they were 3 and 4 years old. We were members until my daughter was in fourth grade.”
After her meeting with Schlesinger, Knopf was invited to attend services, and she became a member in January 2024. “I felt I had found my spiritual home, and I found my community,” she added. “I found people who felt the way I felt, and I made new friends. I felt like this is where I belong.”
In November 2024, she approached Hazzan Bonnie Zakarin, the temple’s cantor, about becoming a bat mitzvah. She studied with Zakarin for over a year by learning how to read Torah and special prayers. Each week she learned a new line from her Torah portion and prayers to lead the bat mitzvah service.
“Pnina is a beautiful soul and amazing volunteer in our community,” Zakarin said. “When she came to me and said she wanted to become a bat mitzvah, I was super excited for her. I wanted to support her and challenge her to do more than what was in her comfort zone.”
During the service last month, Knopf read two Torah portions, one from Miketz, in the book of Genesis, and the Maftir portion of a special Hanukkah reading — because her bat mitzvah took place during Hanukkah.
Zakarin said her favorite part of working with Knopf was her caring attitude and building a closer relationship with her. “I consider her like family,” Zakarin said, “and she’s been such a big part of my life this past year.”
For her mitzvah project, a good deed that involves volunteering or donating, Knopf partnered with SIBSPlace, a support program for children with siblings or parents who have cancer or other devastating medical diagnoses, or children who are coping with the death of a family member.
“I started volunteering with SIBSPlace in 2001, one year after it was created,” Knopf said of the program, an affiliate of Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital. “SIBSPlace has always remained close to my heart. The goal of my mitzvah project is to bring awareness of SIBSPlace to the HERJC congregation, the community and my family and friends.”
Although Stein has known Knopf for only two years, they had an immediate connection when it came to their desire to support Israel and the Jewish community.
“We are so happy to have her here,” Stein said. “She is such a positive, warm, dedicated person. She’s brought so much to our community by using her voice to make connections.”
