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ON THIS DAY
ST. SOPHIA & ST. JOHN OF WISDOM III
WERE SUMMONED
BY
A VOICE WHICH SPOKE TO BOTH OF US
WE WERE TOLD OF THE FUTURE CHANGES THAT WERE TO BE MADE IN THE UNIVERSE
LIKE WHEN
MOSES
WAS SUMMONED TO
THE BURNING BUSH
WE WERE
SUMMONED TO THIS
BURNING LAMP
AND
TOLD THAT THERE WAS TO BE A WORLD WIDE
B'NAIMITZVAH
AND
THIS WAS SAID IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT WAS
NOT A REQUEST
THAT EVERYONE NO MATTER WHERE ANYONE LIVES MUST ATTEND
AND
THEN AFTER THIS EVENT ALL CHILDREN WILL BE
B'NAIMITZVAH
SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - B'NAI MITZVAH
LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY_______________________
JAN 27, 2007
B'nai Mitzvah
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v • d • e
According to Jewish law, when Jewish children reach the age of maturity
(12 years for girls, 13 years for boys) they become responsible for their actions. At this point a boy is said to become Bar
Mitzvah (Hebrew: בר מצוה, "one (m.) to whom the commandments apply"); a girl is said to
become Bat Mitzvah (בת מצוה, "one (f.) to whom the commandments apply")
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.
Contents [hide]
1 Terminology
2 Jewish boys
3 Jewish girls
4 Jewish "adult"
responsibilities
5 Humanist Judaism's procedures
6 Second Bar Mitzvah
7 B'nai Mitzvah gifts
7.1 White House
greetings
8 Criticism of modern B'nai Mitzvah celebrations
9 Further reading
10 External links
Terminology
It is common in Jewish culture to celebrate the coming-of-age transition. In popular usage, the terms "Bar Mitzvah" and
"Bat Mitzvah" are often mistakenly used to refer to the celebration itself; however the term actually refers to the boy or
girl. The event is often misunderstood to confer the status of a Jewish adult, but 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.
The term Bar Mitzvah (בר מצוה) is typically translated
as "son of the commandment", and Bat Mitzvah (בת מצוה) as "daughter of the commandment".
In Biblical Hebrew, however, the word "bar" or "bat" (the latter pronounced "bas" in Ashkenazi Hebrew) could also mean "subject
to," e.g., a particular tax, penalty, or obligation; therefore a more accurate translation of the term may actually be "subject
to commandment." The plural form term for people of obligation is B'nai Mitzvah (or B'not Mitzvah if all the people are female),
though when referring to multiple celebrations, many mistakenly say "Bar Mitzvot" or "Bat Mitzvot."
Jewish boys
The current way of celebrating one's becoming a Bar Mitzvah did not exist in the time of the Bible, Mishnah or Talmud.
This ceremonial observation developed in medieval times.
The current practice is that on a Shabbat shortly after his
13th birthday, a boy may recite the blessings for the Torah reading, 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 say the Torah blessings is called an aliyah (Hebrew: עֲלִיָּה,
from the verb alàh, עָלָה, meaning, "to rise, to ascend; to go up"). Precisely what the Bar
Mitzvah should lead during the service varies from one congregation to another, and is not fixed by Jewish law. The Sephardic
Jews tend to bring the boy into adulthood a little later than Ashkenazi Jews, waiting until after their 14th birthday. Notwithstanding
the celebrations, however, males become entirely culpable and responsible for following Jewish law once they reach the age
of 13, and have matured physically to the stage where two pubic hairs have grown.[1]
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.
Many Jewish boys do not have a Bar Mitzvah celebration, perhaps because the family is too poor or
do not belong to a Synagogue or Shul (a Jewish worship house), or perhaps because they are hidden Jews in the diaspora. In
this case the 13th birthday can be considered the child's coming of age. Not having a Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration does
not make the child becoming an adult any less of a Jew. Although some people wish to be "Bar Mitzvahed" as an expression of
their faith, this has no religious significance. ("Bar Mitzvahed" is an incorrect use of the term as a participle. The proper
way to say it is "to become a Bar Mitzvah".)
Jewish girls
Except in Italy, no ceremony parallel to a boy's
Bar Mitzvah ceremony developed for girls before the modern age. The Orthodox Jewish Italian rite for becoming Bat Mitzvah
made a great impression on Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, a rabbi who was originally Orthodox, became Conservative, and then became
the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism. Through his influence at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, in New York,
Jews from all branches of non-Orthodox Judaism learned about and emulated this practice, though at the time most Orthodox
rabbis strongly rejected its usage, despite its Italian Orthodox background.
The first public celebration of a Bat
Mitzvah happened on March 18, 1922 at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism in New York City for Judith Kaplan, daughter
of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan. As the ceremony became accepted for females as well as males, many women chose to celebrate the
ceremony even though they were much older, as a way of formalizing and celebrating their place in the adult Jewish community.
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 Reconstructionist, and most Conservative synagogues have egalitarian participation in which women 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 in public. Many girls in the non-Orthodox movements
celebrate becoming Bat Mitzvah at age 13, like the Jewish boys, rather than at the actual age 12.
The majority of
Orthodox Judaism rejects the idea that a woman can publicly read from the Torah or lead prayer services. Haredi Jews ("Ultra-Orthodox")
are especially opposed; Rabbi Moshe Feinstein has opposed anyone attending a Bat Mitzvah and has referred to the ceremony
as hevel, nonsense, while the Sephardic rabbi René Samuel Sirat, who served as Chief Rabbi of France, has also opposed Bat
Mitzvah. However, 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. 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 the Book of Psalms) or prayers from
the siddur.
Jewish "adult" responsibilities
Once a person is Bar or Bat Mitzvah, he or she has the responsibilities
of an adult under Jewish law:
He or she is not innocent anymore, and is responsible for his or her own actions (good
or bad). Traditionally, the parents of the Bar or Bat Mitzvah give thanks to God that they no longer have to carry the burden
of their child's sins.
He or she is eligible to be called to read from the Torah, and to participate in a Minyan (In Orthodox
denominations, only males read from the Torah or participate in a Minyan).
He or she is, in theory, legally old enough
to be married according to Jewish law.
Humanist Judaism's procedures
Instead of reading from the Torah, some Humanist
Jews prefer to research, write, and present a research paper on a topic in Jewish history to mark their coming of age. [2]
[3]
Second Bar Mitzvah
Among religious Jews, it is customary for a man who has reached the age of 83
to celebrate a second bar mitzvah, under the logic that a "normal" lifespan is 70 years, so that an 83-year-old can be considered
13 in a second lifetime. This practice is now becoming more common among the less orthodox denominations as well. [4] [5].
B'nai Mitzvah gifts
As with weddings, sweet sixteen parties, and other life events, it is common to give the
Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebrant a gift to commemorate the occasion. Traditionally, common gifts included books with religious
or educational value, religious items, writing implements, savings bonds (to be used for the child's college education) or
gift certificates [6], [7]. In modern times, gifts of cash are becoming the norm. Because the Hebrew word for "life", ("chai")
is also the Hebrew number 18, monetary gifts in multiples of 18 dollars (i.e. $36, $180, etc.) are considered to be particularly
auspicious and have become very common, for Bar Mitzvahs as well as for other events such as birthdays. Many B'nai Mitzvah
also receive their first tallit from their parents to be used for the occasion.
White House greetings
With
an advance notice of six weeks, U.S. citizens can request a White House greeting from the President to commemorate a Bar Mitzvah
(among many other life events).
Criticism of modern B'nai Mitzvah celebrations
The celebratory meals and parties
associated with B'nai Mitzvahs have become increasingly elaborate and expensive in recent decades, often rivaling weddings
in their extravagance. Many religious leaders and laypeople have expressed concern that these festivities, which they view
as excessive, distract from the original purpose of the celebration: the transition from childhood and innocence to adulthood
and responsibility. This has given birth to a common modern aphorism: "too much Bar, not enough Mitzvah". This phenomenon
may in part result from a desire by Jewish parents to provide a cultural equivalent of the American sweet sixteen party, the
Latin American quinceañera, or the Catholic confirmation.
Further reading
Oppenheimer, Mark. Thirteen and
a Day: The Bar and Bat Mitzvah across America. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2005.
External links
Article
on the First Bat Mitzvah Celebration of Judith Kaplan at the Jewish Virtual Library Web Site
Entering Adulthood - the
Bar and Bat Mitzvah chabad.org
Bar/Bat Mitzvah resources at my-bar-mitzvah.com
Encyclopaedia Judaica excerpt on Bar/Bat
Mitvah at EncyclopaediaJudaica.com
[hide]v • d • eJewish life
Birth Shalom Zachor · Brit milah
· Zeved habat · Hebrew name · Pidyon HaBen
Coming of age Upsherin · Wimpel · B'nai Mitzvah · Yeshiva
Daily life Ritual
washing · Prayers and blessings · Grace after Meals
Marriage Bashert · Matchmaking · Role of women · Niddah · Mikvah ·
Tzniut · Divorce · Feminism
Religious practice 613 commandments · Customs · Torah study (Weekly portion • Daf Yomi)
· Jewish holidays · Tzedakah
Religious items Sefer Torah · Tzitzit · Tallit · Tefillin · Mezuzah · Kippah · Chanukkiyah
· Shofar
Culture Diaspora · Israel · Immigration into Israel · The Holocaust
Death Chevra Kadisha · Shiva · Kaddish
· Tehillim · Yahrzeit · Yizkor · Speaking of the dead
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