Bar/Bat Mitzvah: What It All Means
Filed Under What it All Means |
Bar and Bat Mitzvah is a stage of life at which one begins to take responsibility for the Mitzvot, the life practices of Judaism. At the age of thirteen, according to Jewish tradition, one should begin taking responsibility for one’s own moral decisions and spiritual values. Since the Middle Ages, this coming of age has been marked by the ceremony of Bar Mitzvah, which means “son of the commandment.” In the 1920’s the first Bat Mitzvah (“daughter of the commandment”) was held so that a young woman’s passage into Jewish adulthood would be equally honored.
Bar/Bat Mitzvah is not just an event, but a process. When a young person has studied sufficiently and is sincerely interested, the new status of responsibility for doing the Mitzvot is recognized by the family and the community. He or she is given the greatest honor possible in the synagogue, an Aliyah (“going up”) to the Torah and has the opportunity to help lead the Sabbath service and to read from the Torah.
Torah
The custom of public Torah readings had its beginnings with Ezra the Scribe after the return of the Jewish people from Babylonian exile in 444 B.C.E. Ultimately, the Torah was divided into 54 weekly portions, each called a Sidra or Parasha, that are read in every synagogue in the world according to the Hebrew calendar. Thus, on each Shabbat, and at each Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the same Torah portion is read the world over.
Haftarah
After the Torah reading, there is a reading from selected passages of the Prophets or Writings which usually has a thematic relationship to the Torah portion. (Sometimes there is a special reading that related to one of the special Shabbatot during the Jewish year). The reading of the Haftarah arose, it is said, during the reign of Antiochus IV, the Syrian-Greek ruler of the empire of which Judea was a part. He issued an order forbidding the reading of the Torah. As a response, the Jewish people began to read from other parts of the Hebrew Bible which would remind them of the Torah portion which would have been read. After the Jews won religious freedom, they kept the custom of the additional reading.
Shabbat Service
The service is divided into four parts. The first part is the Shema and its blessings. It teaches us the core of Jewish belief: God creates; God shows love for us through Torah; God is One; God redeems. The second part, tefilah, evokes what we need as Jews: linkage to our ancestors, giving thanks, and finding fulfillment and peace. A silent meditation is included. The third part is the Torah service. The ritual of reading from the Torah is a reenactment of the events at Mount Sinai. The Torah contains stories, law, history and poetry. It symbolizes all that Jews hold sacred. The honor of blessing the Torah is an aliyah (“going up”). After the Torah service, the rabbi offers a special blessing for the bat/bat mitzvah and immediate family. The concluding section of the service, summarizing what we hope for, contains two prayers: Aleinu, affirming God’s unity, and the Kaddish, a mourner’s prayer.
Each synagogue has its own unique customs.
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