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[Q&A] Late Bat/Bar Mitzvah

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Bored Summer Girl

PostPosted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:53 pm


I know that a kid is suppose to have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah on their 13th birthday. My family, however, has never been very traditional. I'm currently 16 and I have just begun to take Hebrew lessons.

I would like to have the Bat Mitzvah I never had when I was 13 and I was wondering. . . is it too late? I don't need to have an orthodox one, since I'm not orthodox. I just want to know if I can have one and what studying and planning it involves.

Thanks for any information you can give and for reading all that!
PostPosted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:05 am


As with any question you ask a Jew, the answer comes by rephrasing the original question. You ask, "Can I have a late bat mitzvah?" But it isn't what you really mean. You could be asking any one of three different questions. I'll answer all of them.

1. Can I have a party, wear a new dress, and invite my friends over to celebrate a milestone?
Absolutely. But call it a Sweet Sixteen party, or a seventeenth birthday party, or just a party that you throw for your friends so that they understand that they're special to you and you want to host them and treat them to a festive occasion. Talk to your parents about a party budget, and then have fun!

2. Can I stand up in synagogue, give a Torah talk, and/or (in non-Orthodox settings) read from the Torah and Haftarah and give the blessings over the readings?
Absolutely. This is a good way to stand and declare your allegiance to the people of Israel, the faith of Israel, and the G*D of Israel. It tells your community that you're ready to accept the duties of Jewish adulthood, and that you now consider yourself obligated to the community like everyone else who has reached the age of religious and communal accountability. It's a big step to take, but if you're prepared to do it, the minimum requirement for this aspect of bat mitzvah is to give a Torah talk; in non-Orthodox settings, the minimum requirement is to deliver the blessings over the Torah readings. Either way, it's a good thing to do. Talk with your parents and your rabbi about how you can step up to the plate and publicly declare your intention to take on your adult Jewish responsibilities.

3. Can I become a bat mitzvah?
The phrase bat mitzvah literally means "daughter of the commandments" or "heir of sacred obligation." A person becomes a bar/bat mitzvah upon reaching the age of accountability. For boys, this is the age of 13; for girls, it's 12 years. The good news is that once you turn that age, you ARE a bar or bat mitzvah. You don't actually have to do anything about it. The obligations of adulthood are upon you from that day forward. The way to publicly declare it is to stand up in synagogue and give the blessings over the Torah reading, but this isn't even necessary, only customary. If you want to have a party or a ceremony, that's permitted, but it's not necessary at all. You are already a bat mitzvah, just by virtue of having lived as a Jew until your 12th birthday. Mazal tov! smile

All that's required of you now is that you begin to observe the 613 mitzvot -- or, well, what's possible for you to observe. You can't observe the ones meant only for Kohanim unless you're a Kohein, the ones meant only for a Levite unless you're a Levite, the ones meant only for a male, the ones meant only for those who live in Jerusalem or Israel unless you live there, or the ones meant to be observed only in the time of a standing Temple because there is no standing Temple. That actually leaves only about 200-ish (I believe) commandments to which you're obligated.

Speak to your parents and your rabbi about which ones you want to start with. It's usually best to take on only one mitzvah at a time, until you simply can't bear to do without just one more. The mitzvot are a burden -- a sweet burden, but a burden nonetheless -- and if you take them on all at once, they will overwhelm you. So, pick one or two that you feel confident that you can commit to. When those two have become so ingrained in you that you can do them and consider it strange that you didn't do them before, take on another one. That way, you'll build your mitzvot throughout your life.

Divash
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Bored Summer Girl

PostPosted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:02 pm


Thank you Divash! for such complete and informative answers. What I really meant was #2, but your entire post helped. 3nodding
PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:46 am


I Didnt do my bar mitzva at 13...
But I made something about it at 15 years old, when I started to have hewbrew lessons.

Zenfold

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