Bar and Bat Mitzvah

Bar Mitzvah or Bar Mitzvah (Hebrew: בר מצוה, son of duty ), for girls Bat Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah (Hebrew: בת מצוה, daughter of the obligation) in Judaism refers to the religious majority. Boys they reach the age of thirteen, girls at the age of twelve years. Bar and Bat Mitzvah refers to both the status and the day and the ceremony at which the religious maturity occurs.

Basis

It is based on the legal regime according to the Jewish law on the date on which a boy for observing and complying with the Jewish commandments ( mitzvot, singular mitzvah ) is responsible. This rite of passage is accompanied by the physiological puberty. The Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah may or must meet all religious duties from then on, read about in the synagogue from the Torah. This includes the creation of tefillin, that is, leather caps, the Torah sites are included on parchment and fastened with leather straps on hand and head.

Other spellings

The Hebrew term components can be transcribed in English in different ways. Mitzvah can also be Mitzva (h) or Mitzvah (h ) can be written, Bat as Bas. The Duden suggests the spelling Bar / Bat Mitzvah. The masculine plural form is B'nei Mitzvah ( Sons of duty ), the female B'not Mitzvah ( Daughters of the obligation).

Historical Development

Originally it was an accomplished, bound to the physical maturity legal status of the young boy. Therefore, this young man was called in earlier sources exclusively Gadol (adult) or bar Onuschin ( son of punishment = Someone who is responsible for his actions ). The term bar mitzvah ( son of the obligation) in use today meaning we find for the first time at Mordecai ben Hillel, a rabbi and liturgical poet who was murdered in 1298 in Nuremberg during the Rintfleisch pogrom. From the 14th century on the Bar Mitzvah celebration prevailed.

Bar and Bat Mitzvah - the date of taking over the duty

It has become a tradition that young people learn on that day out, the Hebrew (not vocalized ) Torah portion and the Haftarah to present the reading from the prophetic books. This " first Tora - call ", usually maftir, the portion thereof, which also reads the Haftarah is solemnized and the boy or the girl is taken on this festive day in the community, usually on the Shabbat after 13 Birthday of male or after the 12th birthday of the young women, and are fully involved in the first time with the service.

In Reform congregations girls are in contrast to orthodox Jewish communities as well as boys allowed to read from the Torah. The Bat Mitzvah for girls, although dating back to the older tradition, has become generally established only in the 20th century in the Reform congregations. The Bat Mitzvah is known in the year 1922, the daughter of Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionism.

Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah Celebration

After the service, an endowment founded by the parents of the bar or bat mitzvah snack, Kiddush is called, served for all participants of worship. In the evening or the next day then the actual festival is held at which often several hundred invited guests participated.