My congregation, Ramat Shalom, was founded 46 years ago as a Reconstructionist synagogue. Lots of people are unfamiliar with the Reconstructionist Movement, the theology it embraces and the fact that it falls somewhere between the Reform and Conservative movements. This being said, most everyone knows what a bat mitzvah is. And the bat mitzvah is a product of Reconstructionism. This month, the bat mitzvah turns 100! Most of us consider a bat mitzvah a mainstream Jewish ritual. But, 100 years ago, it was radical, an innovative process developed by Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan whose beliefs lie at the foundation of Reconstructionism. Not just because of the bat mitzvah, Rabbi Kaplan was a pioneer, a boundary pusher, an innovator. Some would say he was a troublemaker – even a heretic. Kaplan was actually excommunicated by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis. Wanting to empower his daughter, Judith, Rabbi Kaplan created the bat mitzvah. As a…