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e somalia south africa sudan tanzania tunisia uganda abayudaya west africa zambia zimbabwe asia afghanistan armenia azerbaijan bahrain cambodia china georgia hong kong india indonesia iran iraq israel japan jordan kazakhstan kurdistan kuwait kyrgyzstan lebanon malaysia mongolia myanmar nepal oman pakistan philippines qatar saudi arabia south korea singapore sri lanka syria tajikistan taiwan thailand turkey united arab emirates uzbekistan vietnam yemen europe albania austria belarus belgium bosnia and herzegovina bulgaria croatia cyprus czechia denmark estonia finland france germany greece romaniote hungary iceland ireland italy italkim latvia liechtenstein lithuania luxembourg moldova montenegro netherlands north macedonia norway poland portugal romania russia soviet union serbia slovakia slovenia spain sephardic sweden switzerland ukraine united kingdom england scotland wales northern america canada greenland united states latin america and caribbean argentina bolivia brazil chile colombia costa rica cuba dominican republic ecuador el salvador guatemala guyana haiti honduras jamaica mexico nicaragua panama paraguay peru puerto rico suriname uruguay venezuela oceania australia fiji guam new zealand palau culture customs minyan wedding clothing niddah pidyon haben kashrut shidduch surnames ashkenazi sephardic zeved habat conversion to judaism art ancient yiddish theatre dance humour music religious secular cuisine american ashkenazi bukharan ethiopian israeli israelite mizrahi sephardic literature israeli yiddish judeo tat american religion outline god in judaism names principles of faith mitzvot 613 halakha shabbat holidays prayer tzedakah land of israel brit bar and bat mitzvah marriage bereavement baal teshuva off the derech philosophy ethics kabbalah messiah claimants customs rites synagogue rabbi denominations orthodox haredi hasidic modern open traditional conservadox conservative reform reconstructionist humanistic renewal science karaite haymanot texts tanakh torah nevi im ketuvim talmud mishnah gemara rabbinic midrash tosefta targum beit yosef mishneh torah tur shulchan aruch zohar languages hebrew biblical mishnaic medieval modern bukharian ghardaïa sign jewish koine greek judeo arabic judeo aramaic judeo berber judeo gascon judaeo georgian judaeo iranian judeo italian judeo malayalam judaeo spanish judeo tat knaanic shassi yeshivish yevanic yiddish zarphatic politics jewish political movements autonomism bundism conservatism feminism leftism secularism territorialism world agudath israel zionism general green labor kahanism maximalism neo zionism religious revisionist post zionism category portal v t e a bar mitzvah masculine or bat mitzvah feminine a is a coming of age ritual in judaism according to jewish law before children reach a certain age the parents are responsible for their child s actions once jewish children reach that age they are said to become b nai mitzvah at which point they begin to be held accountable for their own actions traditionally the father of a bar or bat mitzvah offers thanks to god that he is no longer punished for his child s sins in orthodox communities boys become bar mitzvah at 13 and girls become bat mitzvah at 12 in most reform reconstructionist and conservative communities the milestone is 13 regardless of gender 5 after this point children are also held responsible for knowing jewish ritual law tradition and ethics and are able to participate in all areas of jewish community life to the same extent as adults in some jewish communities men s and women s roles differ in certain respects for example in orthodox judaism once a boy turns 13 it is permitted to count him for the purpose of determining whether there is a prayer quorum and he may lead prayer and other religious services in the family and the community 6 bar mitzvah is mentioned in the mishnah 7 and the talmud some classic sources identify the age at which children must begin to participate in the ritual at the age of 13 for boys and 12 for girls the age of b nai mitzvah roughly coincides with the onset of puberty 8 the bar bat mitzvah ceremony is usually held on the first shabbat after the birthday on which the child reaches the eligible age etymology edit bar בַּר is a jewish babylonian aramaic word meaning son בֵּן ben in hebrew while bat בַּת in hebrew means daughter mitzvah מִצְוָה is hebrew for commandment or law thus bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah literally translate to son of commandment and daughter of commandment respectively however in rabbinical usage the word bar means under the category of or subject to bar mitzvah therefore translates to one who is subject to the law although the term is commonly used to refer to the ritual itself the phrase originally refers to the person 9 history edit the modern method of celebrating becoming a bar mitzvah did not exist in the time of the hebrew bible mishnah or talmud early rabbinic sources specify 13 as the age at which a boy becomes a legal adult however the celebration of this occasion is not mentioned until the middle ages from approximately 500 ce to 1500 ce see post classical history 10 11 some late midrashic sources and some medieval sources refer to a synagogue ceremony performed upon the boy s reaching age thirteen simon tzemach duran quotes a midrash interpreting the hebrew word zo this in isaiah 43 21 these people have i formed for myself they shall speak my praise as referring by its numerical value to those that have reached the age of 13 12 this seems to imply that at the time of the composition of the midrash the bar mitzvah publicly pronounced a blessing on the occasion of his entrance upon maturity the midrash hashkem 13 the heathen when he begets a son consecrates him to idolatrous practices the israelite has his son circumcised and the rite of pidyon haben performed and as soon as he becomes of age he brings him into the synagogue and school in order that he may praise the name of god reciting the barechu masseket soferim 18 5 makes matters even more explicit in jerusalem they are accustomed to initiate their children to fast on the day of atonement a year or two before their maturity and then when the age has arrived to bring the bar mitzvah before the priest or elder for blessing encouragement and prayer that he may be granted a portion in the law and in the doing of good works whosoever is of superiority in the town is expected to pray for him as he bows down to him to receive his blessing genesis rabbah 6 up to 13 years esau and jacob went together to the primary school and back home after the thirteen years were over the one went to the beit midrash to study law the other to the house of idols regarding this rabbi eleazar remarks until the 13th year it is the father s duty to train his boy after this he must say blessed be he who has taken from me the responsibility the punishment for this boy later on are references to a festive celebration on this occasion it is a mitzvah for a person to make a meal on the day his son becomes bar mitzvah as on the day he enters the wedding canopy 14 age thirteen edit bar mitzvah in a synagogue by oscar rex the bible does not explicitly specify the age of 13 passages in the books of exodus and numbers note the age of majority for army service as twenty 15 machzor vitri notes that genesis 34 25 refers to levi as a man when a calculation from other verses suggests that levi was aged 13 at the time 16 the age of thirteen is mentioned in the mishnah as the time one is obligated to observe the torah s commandments at five years old one should study the scriptures at ten years for the mishnah at 13 for the commandments 17 10 elsewhere 18 the mishnah lists the ages 13 for boys and 12 for girls at which a vow is considered automatically valid the talmud explains this as a result of the 13 year old being a man as required in numbers 6 2 19 for one year before this age the vows are conditionally valid depending on whether the boy or girl has signs of physical maturity 18 other sources also list thirteen as the age of majority with respect to following the commandments of the torah including why is the evil inclination personified as the great king ecclesiastes 9 14 because it is thirteen years older than the good inclination that is to say one s good inclination begins to act upon reaching the age of majority 20 according to pirke rabbi eli ezer 26 abraham rejected the total idolatry of his father and became a worshiper of god when he was thirteen years old 21 the term bar mitzvah edit the term bar mitzvah appears first in the talmud meaning one who is subject to the law though it does not refer to age 22 the term bar mitzvah in reference to age cannot be clearly traced earlier than the 14th century the older rabbinical term being gadol adult or bar onshin one legally responsible for own misdoings 21 significance edit reaching the age of bar or bat mitzvah signifies becoming a full fledged member of the jewish community with the responsibilities that come with it these include moral responsibility for one s own actions eligibility to be called to read from the torah and lead or participate in a minyan the right to possess personal property and to legally marry on one s own according to jewish law the duty to follow the 613 laws of the torah and keep the halakha and the capacity to testify as a witness in a beth din rabbinical court case reading from the torah sephardi custom many congregations require pre bar mitzvah children to attend a minimum number of shabbat prayer services at the synagogue study at a hebrew school take on a charity or community service project and maintain membership in good standing with the synagogue in addition to study and preparation offered through the synagogue and hebrew schools bar mitzvah tutors may be hired to prepare the child through the study of hebrew torah cantillation and basic jewish concepts citation needed according to rabbi mark washofsky the reform movement in north america has struggled over the bar bat mitzvah at one time this ceremony was on the verge of extinction in reform congregations most of them preferred to replace bar bat mitzvah with confirmation which they considered a more enlightened and appropriate ceremony for modern jews yet the enduring popularity of bar bat mitzvah prevailed and today in our communities bar bat mitzvah is virtually universally observed by reform jews 23 in 2012 concern about the high post bar bat mitzvah drop out rate led the union for reform judaism to launch the b nai mitzvah revolution an effort to shift reform congregations away from the long held assumption that religious school is about preparing kids for their bar bat mitzvah and focus instead on teaching them how to become committed and involved members of the jewish community 24 aliyah to the torah edit an 1839 description of an upcoming manhattan bar mitzvah reported in the new york herald bar mitzvah at the western wall in jerusalem the widespread practice is that shortly after a boy turns 13 they are called up for an aliyah 25 the ceremony of reading a portion of the torah section of the day 26 on the sabbath there are seven main sections plus an eighth known as maftir which is also connected to the reading of that day s haftorah section 27 it is most common to give the child the maftir reading 26 in most synagogues a designated officiant the ba al korei reads all of the torah portions and the people receiving each aliyah only say the blessings before and after their portion is read 21 28 a bar mitzvah boy may learn to act as the ba al korei either for the entire service for just his aliyah or any range in between 26 he may also be ba al korei for the haftorah portion if he receives the maftir or may only be ba al korei for the haftorah without reading from the torah at all 26 any of these undertakings involves a steep learning curve and much practice possibly taking a year of study and is an impressive accomplishment 29 girls may have an aliyah in reform reconstructionist and conservative jewish synagogues in orthodox synagogues aliyot were and typically still are restricted to boys with a girl potentially giving a d var torah at the end of the service some modern orthodox girls give aliyot at women s services with fewer than ten men so as not to constitute a minyan in orthodox circles the occasion is sometimes celebrated during a weekday service that includes reading from the torah such as a monday or thursday morning service some communities or families may delay the celebration for reasons such as availability of a shabbat during which no other celebration has been scheduled or to allow family members 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 tefillin edit bar mitzvah ceremony at a reform synagogue the obligation to lay tefillin begins when a boy reaches bar mitzvah age the common custom is for the bar mitzvah boy to begin putting on tefillin one to three months before his bar mitzvah this way by the time he is obligated in the commandment he will already know how to fulfill it properly 30 bar mitzvah at the western wall in jerusalem parties edit as the first mention of a party associated with a synagogue bar mitzvah was in the 13th century hosting some sort of party is traditional and frequently considered necessary 31 a boy at his bar mitzvah participating in the traditional hora dance bar mitzvah festivities typically include a joyous seudat mitzvah a celebratory meal with family friends and members of the community the bar mitzvah boy delivering on this occasion a learned discourse or oration at the table before the invited guests who offer him presents while the rabbi or teacher gives him his blessing accompanying it at times with an address 21 some jews celebrate in other ways such as taking the bat or bar mitzvah on a special trip or organizing some special event in the celebrant s honour in many communities the celebrant is given a certificate in some times and places local jewish leaders have officially limited the size and elaborateness of mitzvahs 31 for example only ten men were permitted to attend the party in 1730 in berlin and music was banned at these parties in 1767 in prague 31 these rules were usually meant to avoid offending non jewish neighbours and to maintain the rule that it be a smaller celebration than a wedding 31 bar and bat mitzvah parties among wealthy jewish families in north america are often lavish affairs held at hotels and country clubs with hundreds of guests 32 33 34 the trend has been mocked most notably in the movie keeping up with the steins these lavish parties were also heavily featured in the film you are so not invited to my bat mitzvah in the 1950s rabbi harold saperstein of new york described them as too often being more bar than mitzvah 31 rabbi shmuley boteach says that over the top bar mitzvah parties...