Haircuts, a New Bat Mitzvah Ritual

A couple of years ago, Ruth Ades, had short salt-and – pepper hair Then one of her granddaughters, preparing for her bat mitzvah, decided to grow her own hair long in order to contribute it to the organization Lodes of Love, where it would be made into wigs for children who d lost their hair from medical conditions. Soon all the females in the family decided to join in the mitzvah project. While Locks of Love doesn’t make wigs out of the gray hair they receive (Ades’s own tresses yielded a significant 14 inches), they sell this hair in order to cover the costs of fabricating the wigs.

Just before the joint bat mitzvah celebration of Ades’s granddaughters Marina and Anna in New Bedford, Massachusetts, this spring, the women and girls got together for their haircuts. Here, the before and after photos, and Ruth Ades s message that accompanied them.

Well, the cutting is over for my daughter, Sara, her three daughters—Marina, 13-1/2, Anna, 12, Tovya, 7—and myself. The anticipation of waiting 2-1/2 years to grow a minimum of 10 inches of hair ended with 5 swift cuts, and 54 inches of hair in hand, which is being sent to Locks of Love for wigs for children who are in need.

At my granddaughters’ joint b’not mitzvah April 2, their Torah portion was Tazria, skin disease, and the girls spoke about the mitzvah they were doing by growing their hair to be given to children with hair loss.

They also purchased 300 bracelets, which were handed out by their young cousins in baskets after their dvar Torah was presented. The bracelets are made especially for Locks of Love, and the proceeds all go to this non-profit organization. The remaining bracelets were given out at Makeovers, the beauty salon in Easton, Massachusetts which did our haircutting and styling without charge.