In different religious cultures all around the world, there are particular events in children’s lives that mark their entrance into adulthood. In my Catholic faith experience, I underwent this coming-of-age process through my Confirmation, which took place in May of my junior year. After studying Catholicism in religion class for eleven years and growing personally in my faith, I was finally considered an adult member of the Church. Several of my friends experienced their coming-of-age years before I did, and the essence of their entrance into spiritual adulthood differed greatly from mine, due to the fact that they were Jewish. In seventh-grade, two good friends of mine, Shira and Olivia, attempted to explain a bat mitzvah to me. Although
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For example, the young Jewish person receives an Aliyah on the day of their bar mitzvah. In receiving this honor, he or she ascends, both physically to the Torah platform and spiritually to a new elevation, and recites a Torah blessing with the help of an adult This symbolizes the new level to which the young Jewish person has achieved in his or her community as a practicing Jewish adult (“Bar Mitzvah 101-An Overview of Everthing You Need to Know about Becoming a Bar Mitzvah”). Also, the bar or bat mitzvah child must deliver a speech. This occurs either in the synagogue during the ceremony or at the following reception. In this speech, the young person usually reflects on the weekly Torah reading, applies the reading to his or her own life, and offers thanks to his or her teachers and family members, especially the parents (Schauss). Not only does the young Jewish person have to reflect on the Torah reading, but he or she often must also be able to chant the Haftarah, or portion of the Torah. While the chanting is not required in all Jewish communities, it is common, and often it is done in both Hebrew and English. Lastly, at the bar mitzvah the young Jew announces his or her Mitzvah project. There are 613 mitzvahs, so the child is asked to choose one, study it in depth, and focus on observing that commandment to the best of his or her ability (“Bar and Bat Mitzvah 101”). In order to achieve all these skills needed for the bar mitzvah, the Jewish child is enrolled in bar mitzvah lessons, taught by a rabbi or other Jewish authority, between six and eighteen months prior to the day of the bar mitzvah. At these lessons, he or she learns the significance of the mitzvahs and how to follow them. The child also practices reading Hebrew, learns the Aliyah blessings, and studies the fundamentals of Judaism (“Bar and Bat Mitzvah
For example, the young Jewish person receives an Aliyah on the day of their bar mitzvah. In receiving this honor, he or she ascends, both physically to the Torah platform and spiritually to a new elevation, and recites a Torah blessing with the help of an adult This symbolizes the new level to which the young Jewish person has achieved in his or her community as a practicing Jewish adult (“Bar Mitzvah 101-An Overview of Everthing You Need to Know about Becoming a Bar Mitzvah”). Also, the bar or bat mitzvah child must deliver a speech. This occurs either in the synagogue during the ceremony or at the following reception. In this speech, the young person usually reflects on the weekly Torah reading, applies the reading to his or her own life, and offers thanks to his or her teachers and family members, especially the parents (Schauss). Not only does the young Jewish person have to reflect on the Torah reading, but he or she often must also be able to chant the Haftarah, or portion of the Torah. While the chanting is not required in all Jewish communities, it is common, and often it is done in both Hebrew and English. Lastly, at the bar mitzvah the young Jew announces his or her Mitzvah project. There are 613 mitzvahs, so the child is asked to choose one, study it in depth, and focus on observing that commandment to the best of his or her ability (“Bar and Bat Mitzvah 101”). In order to achieve all these skills needed for the bar mitzvah, the Jewish child is enrolled in bar mitzvah lessons, taught by a rabbi or other Jewish authority, between six and eighteen months prior to the day of the bar mitzvah. At these lessons, he or she learns the significance of the mitzvahs and how to follow them. The child also practices reading Hebrew, learns the Aliyah blessings, and studies the fundamentals of Judaism (“Bar and Bat Mitzvah