B'nai Mitzvah
From Freepedia
When a Jewish child reaches the age of maturity (12 years for girls, 13 years for boys) that child becomes responsible for him/herself under Jewish law. At this point a boy is said to become Bar Mitzvah (בר מצווה, "son of the commandment"); a girl is said to become Bat Mitzvah (בת מצווה, "daughter of the commandment"). The plural form term for people of obligation is B'nai Mitzvah, though when referring to multiple celebrations, many say "Bar" or "Bat Mitzvot."
In popular useage, the terms "Bar Mitzvah" and "Bat Mitzvah" are often mistakenly used to refer to the event itself; however the term actually refers to the boy or girl. The event is often misunderstood to be a rite of passage by which a Jewish boy or girl becomes a Jewish adult, in fact it is merely a celebration of the adulthood that came about automatically by virtue of age. The ceremony itself does not change the status of the celebrant nor does it imbue any additional rights or responsibilities beyond those which were automatically imbued on a boy's 13th (or girl's 12th) birthday.
Before this age, all the child's responsibility to follow Jewish law and tradition lies with the parents. After this age, the children are privileged to participate in all areas of Jewish community life and bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics.
Boys
The current way of celebrating one's becoming a Bar Mitzvah did not exist in the time of the Bible, Mishnah or Talmud. Rather, this ceremonial observation developed in medieval times.
The current practice is that on a Shabbat shortly after his 13th birthday, a boy may read from the Torah (five books of Moses) and Haftara (Selections from the books of the Prophets), and give a d'var Torah, a discussion of that week's Torah portion. One may also lead part or all of the morning prayer services. Calling the boy to read the Torah is called an aliyah. Precisely what the Bar Mitzvah should lead the congregation in varies from one congregation to another, and is not fixed by Jewish law.
Sometimes the celebration is during another service that includes reading from the Torah, such as a Monday or Thursday morning service, a Shabbat afternoon service, or a morning service on Rosh Chodesh, the new moon. The service is often followed by a celebratory meal with family, friends, and members of the community. In the modern day, the celebration is sometimes delayed for reasons such as availability of a Shabbat during which no other celebration has been scheduled, or the desire to permit family to travel to the event, however this does not delay the onset of rights and responsibilities of being a Jewish adult, which comes about strictly by virtue of age.
Girls
Today, most non-Orthodox Jews celebrate a girl's becoming Bat Mitzvah in the same way as a boy's becoming Bar Mitzvah. All Reform and most Conservative synagogues have egalitarian participation in which women may read from the Torah and lead services. Conservative Judaism is pluralistic, and a small percent of Conservative synagogues are still concerned about the halakhic propriety of women reading the Torah portion to men.
Some girls in the non-Orthodox movements celebrate Bat Mitzvah at age 13 rather than the traditional 12.
The majority of Orthodox Judaism rejects the idea that a woman can publicly read from the Torah or lead prayer services, but the public celebration of a girl becoming Bat Mitzvah has made strong inway in Modern Orthodox Judaism, and in some elements of Haredi Judaism, especially Chabad Lubavitch Judaism. In these congregations women do not read from the Torah or lead prayer services; however Orthodox girls will lecture on a Jewish topic to mark their coming of age, learn a book of Tanakh or seder of Mishnah, recite the verses from other texts (such as the Book of Esther or Psalms) or prayers from the siddur.
| Jewish life topics | |
|---|---|
| Birth: Brit milah | Zeved habat (Simchat Bat) | Hebrew name | Redemption of First-born (Pidyon Haben) | |
| Coming of Age: Upsherin | B'nai Mitzvah | |
| Adult: Ablution in Judaism | Prayers and blessings | |
| Marriage: Matchmaking | Jewish view of marriage | Role of women in Judaism | Niddah | Mikvah | Tzeniut | |
| Judaism : Religious life | Observing the commandments | Torah study (Weekly Torah portion) | Talmud study (Daf Yomi) | Jewish holidays | |
| Cultural: Israel | Immigration into Israel | Charity | |
| Items of religious significance: Tzitzit | Tallit | Tefillin | Yarmulke-Kippa | Menorah | |
| Death : Chevra kadisha | Shiv'ah | Kaddish | Tehillim | Yahrzeit | Yizkor | |
