Bar / Bar Mitzvah Meaning
"Bar and Bat Mitzvah is what a young person becomes, simply by becoming thirteen. It is not an event or ceremony. It is not a verb, as in "The rabbi bar mitzvahed my son." Bar and Bat mitzvah literally translates as, "Son or daughter of the commandment." What it really means is "Old enough to be responsible for the mitzvot. " Mitzvot are the commandments that a .Jew does in order to not only live a .Jewish life, but also to sanctify life. ..
-Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, Putting God on the Guest List
Bar or Bat Mitzvah means “Son or Daughter of the Commandment”. When Jewish children reach the age of 13, they are old enough to understand the commandments and be responsible for fulfilling them. A child, upon becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is included as an adult in the religious life of our people and is now responsible for his or her moral decisions.
The idea of reaching religious maturity is mentioned in the Talmud, but did not become an established practice until the fifteenth century. At that time the boy became a Bar Mitzvah on the Sabbath after his thirteenth birthday. The Bar Mitzvah was automatic and nothing was required of the boy. About 450 years ago the ceremony was added, along with certain requirements. They were:
- Being called to read from the Torah and recite the blessings over the Torah.
- Offering the d’rash (speech,), which showed his Talmudic understanding.
- Wearing Tefillin and Tallit for the first time.
- Being present while a special prayer was recited by his father.
In modern times in liberal congregations, women are entitled to access the same mitzvot, as are men. Therefore, led by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of the Reconstructionist movement, the Bat Mitzvah was created.
At Congregation Sha’aray Shalom, the process of becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah includes learning to read Hebrew from the prayer book, the Torah, and from the Prophets, leading the congregation in a Sabbath service, giving a speech as well as performing a Mitzvah project. It also means the family has made a commitment to our heritage and to our congregation and that the student has attended Religious School and is familiar with our Jewish traditions. By deed and word, the student states a commitment to continue on through Confirmation. Becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah assumes the student is ready to declare his or her loyalty to Judaism and to be counted as a member of the Jewish people.