Bar Mitzvah - what is it? Jewish traditions

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Bar Mitzvah is one of the main Jewish holidays, always awaited with excitement and joyful anticipation. Literally translated from Hebrew as "son of the commandment." This is Jewish adulthood.

What is this?

Bar Mitzvah is the day on which a person, according to Jewish law, becomes an adult, therefore, able to take responsibility for his own actions. It is worth noting that for boys this age is 13, for girls it is 12. At the same time, in many Reform or Conservative synagogues, girls celebrate Jewish coming of age with the boys together.

Until now, parents are responsible for the child's full observance of the traditions and laws of Judaism. But an adult person already receives his duties and rights: the right to learn the Torah, to fulfill its commandments, as well as the right to marry. Although the new year in the adult life of a person begins not only with this.

Bar Mitzvah is a very solemn, important and incredibly fun day. At this moment relatives and friends are invited. Elegant clothes are purchased, a grand celebration is arranged for the child, thanks to which the birthday boy feels excited and joyful. At the same time, celebrating the age of majority in the Holy Land is doubly surprising andextraordinary.

Customs and laws

Jewish traditions suggest that when a child reaches adulthood, he begins to be fully responsible for his own actions. But that's not all. It becomes a bar mitzvah (boys) or a bat mitzvah (girls). Until this moment, we repeat, the full responsibility for how the child observes the traditions and laws of Judaism is borne by his parents. As soon as children reach this age, they take responsibility for observing the ritual, ethical and other norms of Judaism. In addition, they receive the right to take part in all areas of the Jewish community.

Jewish traditions

Achieving the bar mitzvah period is mainly due to the fact that the young person is called to read a small passage of the Haftarah and / or Torah during the Shabbat period, in addition to another worship service. In addition, he may be involved in teaching the Torah, in discussing the weekly chapter. At the same time, what exactly the boy should do during the service varies depending on the specific direction of religion, and also depends on the traditions of a particular community. Regardless of the nature of the celebration, men after 13 years of age become fully responsible for observing all the laws of Judaism (girls - after 12).

The main number of representatives of Orthodox Judaism completely reject the idea of women conducting worship and reading the Torah in public. But the public celebration of the achievement of a child of bat mitzvah age in other ways has very much penetrated intoHaredim, as well as in some areas of Orthodox Judaism. In these communities, girls can, for example, give a short lecture on various Jewish topics, learn a chapter of the Tanakh, read some prayers from the siddur or fragments of other texts.

Duties and rights

From the moment a Jew reaches Bat Mitzvah age, he is responsible to Jewish law as an adult, as mentioned above. Acquired duties and rights include:

• the right to participate in a minyan and be called to read the Torah;
• moral responsibility for one's own actions;
• the right to own any property;
• obligation to fully comply with all 613 laws of the Torah;
• the right to marry.

History

During the time of the Talmud, the Mishnah and the Tanakh, the modern practice of celebrating Jewish coming of age did not yet exist. In the books of Numbers and Exodus, the age of majority for military service is 20. In the Mishnah, 13 years is indicated as the age at which a boy must observe the laws of the Torah. So, from the age of 5, boys study the Torah, from 10 - the Mishnah, from the age of 13 they fulfill all the commandments in full.

Bar Mitzvah is a term that first appeared in the Talmud (fifth century). It denoted a boy to whom all the laws of the Torah were applicable. At the same time, the Talmud states that a person’s oaths after the age of 13 acquire full legal force, and also that this is the result of his becoming a real “man”, as required by Numbers. ATThe modern sense of the term "Bar Mitzvah" is not traced back to the 14th century. It is worth noting that the older definitions were "gadol" and "bar-onshin" (capable of being punished for one's transgressions).

Second Bar Mitzvah

Among religious Jews, there is also a custom to celebrate a second Bar Mitzvah, which occurs after reaching the age of 83. Interestingly, the logic behind this is that the "simple" life expectancy of a person is approximately 70 years, hence an 83-year-old old man can be considered as a 13-year-old, only in "extra time". This practice is becoming more and more popular today.

Gifts

A child celebrating a bar mitzvah is usually given gifts. Classical gifts are books with educational or religious value, eternal pens, various religious items, savings bonds (in order to use them for further education), as well as all kinds of gift certificates. Today, more and more people give cash as gifts for adulthood.

Interestingly, as in charity, it is becoming common to give an amount that is a multiple of eighteen. At the same time, it is customary for a bar mitzvah to make a personal first mitzvah (donation) from cash gifts, which would be directed to charity. The boy receives the first tallit from his parents for the holiday.

Offences and Commandments

As soon as a Jewish boy has become an adult, he must behave like a real husband or hero whoconquers his evil inclination, while constantly arousing the good. The teacher and the father must help the child who is beginning this path. They need to be helped to understand and comprehend everything new that has appeared in him now, as well as what his duties are from now on.

New - this is the acceptance by the boy of the burden of the commandments of the Almighty forever and the absolute impossibility of overthrowing him ever from himself. While his duty is to beware of the awakening of the evil inclination, which constantly lies in wait for him, to beware of the possible commission of an offense. He must believe with all his heart that the Creator gave him enough strength for this.

Customs and laws of the holiday

Children do not have to obey the commandments of the Torah. A boy, as mentioned above, begins to do this from the age of thirteen, a Jewish girl - from 12. When they reach this age, it is believed that other signs of maturity come along with it.

If the child was born on the 1st day of the month of Nisan, he becomes a bar mitzvah on the 1st day of the month of Nisan of the 14th year of life.

If a boy was born in the month of Adar in a non-leap year, while the 13th year of his life turned out to be a leap year (there were two months of Adar), the child becomes a bar mitzvah only on his birthday in the 2nd Adar.

If a child was born in a leap year in Adar and the 13th year of his life was also a leap year, then if he was born in the 1st Adar, he also becomes a bar mitzvah in the 1st Adar; if the boy was born in the 2nd adar, then also in the second adarit becomes a bar mitzvah. Moreover, if the 13th year of his life was normal, then it is completely indifferent whether he was born in the 1st or 2nd Adar - as soon as his birthday comes in Adar, he automatically becomes a bar mitzvah.