See Also: bar mitzvah(dictionary)
bat mitzvah(dictionary)
mitzvah(dictionary)
Bar Mitzvah(encyclopedia)
bar mitzvah(dictionary)
bat mitzvah(dictionary)

Bar Mitzvah (sh)




Jewish ritual celebrating a boy's 13th birthday and his entry into the community of Judaism.

It usually takes place during a Sabbath service, when the boy reads from the Torah and may give a discourse on the text. The service is often followed by a festive Kiddush and a family dinner on the same day or next day. Reform Judaism substituted confirmation of boys and girls for the Bar Mitzvah celebration after 1810, but many congregations restored the Bar Mitzvah in the 20th century. A separate ceremony for girls, Bat Mitzvah, has been instituted in Reform and Conservative Judaism.