Nearly 100 people from Israel and the US gathered at the Tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel on the outskirts of Bethlehem last Monday for what is being described as the first large-scale Bat Mitzvah celebration held in the newly-fortified compound.

Festive music and dancing greeted Tamar Klein, 12, as she marked her passage into adulthood by giving a short discourse on various religious subjects as her proud parents, Penina and David Klein of Cedarhurst, New York, and other invited guests, looked on.

Tamar Klein and guests celebrate her Bat Mitzvah at Rachel's Tomb

Among those in attendance was Rabbi Benny Eisner, who teaches at a local Jerusalem yeshiva and who took part in the liberation of Rachel's Tomb as a young Israeli soldier in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The Bat Mitzvah festivities took place in a refurbished building known as "Beit Bnei Rachel", which lies immediately adjacent to the structure housing the tomb, both of which are within a loop in the separation wall constructed by Israel.

The site was purchased from its Arab owners several years ago by a consortium of Jews who aim to turn it into an educational campus.

The celebration was organized by the Rachel Imeinu Foundation (www.rachelimeinu.org), which aims to strengthen the Jewish presence in and around the complex housing the tomb, which is revered as the traditional burial site of the biblical matriarch Rachel.

"This is an historic event," said foundation president Chaim Silberstein. "It is the first time that a full-fledged Bat Mitzvah celebration, including catering, music, photographers and dancing, took place in the center adjoining the tomb."

Silberstein said that his goal is to establish a World Bat Mitzvah Center in the building, "which will provide young Jewish women with a special venue to celebrate their Bat Mitzvahs, just as young Jewish men mark their Bar Mitzvahs at the Western Wall."

"This, he added, "is the first of what I hope will be many more meaningful and joyous celebrations at the compound."

For more information, or to arrange for a Bat Mitzvah celebration at Rachel's Tomb, contact: chaim@rachelimeinu.org.