When Sara Ehrmann moved to Champaign-Urbana from Boston, she wanted to get more involved with the Jewish community. She talked to Melissa Cohen, program coordinator at Hillel, and decided to begin the process of preparing for her bat mitzvah.

Two other women joined her in the preparation process, learning about Jewish traditions and how to read the Torah.

Saturday, Hillel held its first adult bat mitzvah for Ehrmann and two others who did not participate in the Jewish faith’s coming-of-age ceremony at the usual age of 12 or 13.

The three women were Ehrmann, a 24-year-old graduate student, Mindy Brown, a 21-year-old senior in Media; ; and Michael Parrish, a 24-year-old graduate student.

They expressed interest in having a bat mitzvah to Cohen.

In February, the three women began studying the Torah, observance practices and Jewish traditions once a week.

Because of their maturity, the women studied for their bat mitzvahs in a small group instead of in a religious school at a synagogue as younger students do, Cohen said.

“Doing it as a group creates a warm environment, and it’s more meaningful,” she said. “It’s a wonderful thing for anyone who hasn’t had one.

There’s no better time than in college to have your friends and classmates working on it with you.”

Ehrmann said preparing for her bat mitzvah ceremony in a group took some pressure off as each individual worked to learn how to read the Torah.

“It’s nice to have someone else there to learn from their questions even if you’re not thinking about it,” Ehrmann said. “Doing it in a group is great at this point in our lives because we’re not 13.”

Ehrmann said she did not have a bat mitzvah ceremony at 12 or 13 because she has a learning disability that made understanding Hebrew difficult.

Parrish grew up in Montana, where she said she did not have an opportunity to have her bat mitzvah.

“There isn’t a large Jewish community there, so I didn’t have the opportunity when I was younger,” Parrish said. “Now I’m taking on our traditions and commandments, and for me, that’s an important opportunity.”

Brown said she did not have a bat mitzvah earlier because she converted to Judaism three years ago, after the usual age for having a bat mitzvah. She said her parents allowed her to find her own religious path, and she chose Judaism as the best fit for her spirituality.

The three women celebrated their bat mitzvahs by reading sections from the Torah for the first time in front of about 50 friends and family members at Hillel.

“With having a bat mitzvah, it’s the final step to my conversion,” Brown said.

“It proves to everyone that I’m very serious about this to take it to this level, and it will help me fit in more and bring me closer to the Jewish community.”