Bat Mitzvah ceremony and celebration
Bat mitzvah literally means "daughter of the commandment". The word bat translates to "daughter" in Aramaic, which was the commonly spoken language of the Jewish people and much of the Middle East from 500 BC to 400 AD. The word mitzvah is Hebrew for "commandment".
The term Bat Mitzvah refers to two things
When a girl reaches 12 years of age she becomes a bat mitzvah and is recognized by Jewish tradition as having the same rights as an adult. He is now morally and ethically responsible for his decisions and actions, while before his adulthood, his parents would have been morally and ethically responsible for his actions.
Bat mitzvah also refers to a religious ceremony that accompanies a girl to become a bat mitzvah. Often a celebratory feast will follow the ceremony and that feast is also called a bat mitzvah. For example, you could say “I'm going to Sarah's bat mitzvah this weekend,” referring to the ceremony and party to mark the occasion.
This article is about the religious ceremony and the festival called the bat mitzvah. The details of the ceremony and party, although there is a religious ceremony to mark the occasion, vary widely depending on the Judaism movement to which the family belongs.
History
In the late XNUMXth and early XNUMXth centuries, many Jewish communities began to mark when a girl became a bat mitzvah with a special ceremony. This was a break from traditional Jewish tradition, which prohibited women from directly participating in religious services.
Using the bar mitzvah ceremony as a model, Jewish communities began experimenting with developing a similar ceremony for girls. In 1922, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan performed the first patron mitzvah ceremony in America for his daughter Judith, when she was allowed to read from the Torah when she became a mitzvah bat. While this new found privilege did not match the complexity of the bar mitzvah ceremony, the event nevertheless marked what is widely considered the first modern bat mitzvah in the United States. It triggered the development and evolution of the modern bat mitzvah ceremony.
The ceremony in unorthodox communities
In many liberal Jewish communities, for example in the reformist and conservative communities, the bat mitzvah ceremony has become almost identical to the bar mitzvah ceremony for boys. These communities usually require the girl significant preparation for a religious service. He often studies with a rabbi and / or Cantor for several months, and sometimes years. While the exact role he plays in the service will vary between different Jewish movements and synagogues, it usually involves some or all of the following:
Conducting specific prayers or the entire service during a Shabbat service or, less commonly, a religious service on weekdays.
Read the weekly portion of the Torah during a Shabbat service or, less commonly, a religious service on weekdays. Often the girl will learn and use traditional singing for reading.
Read the weekly portion of Haftarah during a Shabbat service or, less commonly, a weekday religious service. Often the girl will learn and use traditional singing for reading.
Give a talk about reading the Torah and / or Haftarah.
By completing a tzedakah (charity) project that leads to the ceremony to raise funds or donations for a charity to choose the bat mitzvah.
The bat mitzvah family is often honored and recognized during service with an aliyah or multiple aliyot. In many synagogues it has also become customary to pass the Torah from grandparents to parents to the bat mitzvah itself, symbolizing the abandonment of the obligation to engage in the study of the Torah and Judaism.
While the bat mitzvah ceremony is a milestone in the life cycle and is the culmination of years of study, it is actually not the end of a girl's Jewish education. It simply marks the beginning of a life of Jewish learning, study and participation in the Jewish community.
The ceremony in the Orthodox communities
Since the involvement of women in formal religious ceremonies is still prohibited in most Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, the bat mitzvah ceremony does not generally exist in the same format as more liberal movements. However, a girl who becomes a bat mitzvah is still a special occasion. In recent decades, public bat mitzvah celebrations have become more common among Orthodox Jews, although the celebrations are different from the type of bat mitzvah ceremony described above.
Ways to mark the occasion publicly vary by community. In some communities, bat mitzvahs can read from the Torah and conduct a special prayer service for women only. In some ultra-Orthodox Haredi communities girls have special meals for women only during which the bat mitzvah will give a D'var Torah, a short teaching on the Torah portion for her bat mitzvah week. In many modern Orthodox communities on Shabbat after a girl who becomes a bat mitzvah, she can also deliver a Torah D'var. There is no uniform pattern for the bat mitzvah ceremony in Orthodox communities yet, but the tradition continues to evolve.
Celebration and party
The tradition of following the religious bat mitzvah ceremony with a celebration or even a lavish feast is recent. Being a major life cycle event, it's understandable that modern day Jews enjoy celebrating the occasion and have incorporated the same types of celebratory elements that are part of other life cycle events. But just as the wedding ceremony is more important than the welcome that follows, it is important to remember that a bat mitzvah party is simply the celebration that marks the religious implications of becoming a bat mitzvah. While one party is common among more liberal Jews, it has not caught on among Orthodox communities.
Gifts
Gifts are commonly given to a bat mitzvah (usually after the ceremony, at the party or a meal). Any appropriate gift for a 13 year old girl's birthday can be delivered. Money is also commonly given as a bat mitzvah gift. It has become the practice of many families to donate a portion of any monetary gift to a charity chosen by the bat mitzvah, with the remainder often added to the child's college fund or by contributing to any other Jewish education program in which it can participate.