Recently, the celebrations regarding the
birth of a girl have quite developed. There is the
Simchat Bat (Rejoicing of the daughter) and the
Brit B’not Yisrael (the covenant of the daughters of
Israel), for example. There is also, in the Reform
movement, the possibility for women to become a
mohel.
2) Coming of Age
In the case of these ceremonies, there may be vari-
ations depending the gender of the child. This will
also depend on the degree of conservatism prac-
ticed among the congregation: Bat Mitzvah is not
accepted among Orthodox Jews. This celebration
ties the boy or girl to Jewish laws and makes them
eligible to own property and to get married.
Bar Mitzvah
Celebrated on the 13th birthday of the boy, he
must now live by the commandments of the Torah.
Before being able to perform, the boy will have
had studied for about a year. During the ritual,
the boy, wearing the tefillin for the first time, will
be called to read the Torah and the week’s lesson
from The Prophets (Haftarah) in the synagogue.
The reading is performed in Hebrew and chanted.
During the service, the rabbi will address the boy
and after, the boy’s father will give thanks for his
son’s coming of age.
After this, the same Sabbath or the next
one, a party will be held in honor of the boy in the
company of family and friends. These parties too
shall vary, from a quiet dinner, to a full banquet.
The boy is also given privileges with this
ritual:
- Right to be called to read the Torah
- To be counted as an adult and therefore one of
the ten males required to perform full synagogue
services (Orthodox Jews).
Bat Mitzvah or Bat Chayil (daughter of valor)
The female version of the ceremony is very new to
Jewish traditions (19th century). Since it is consid-
ered girls mature before boys, their ceremony usu-
ally takes place on their 12th birthday. The ritual
is similar to the boys’, girls too read the Torah for
the congregation on the synagogue on the day of
Sabbath, but they do not wear the tefillin. Conser-
vative Jews will have a women-only service.
Another way to perform this ceremony is
on the day after Sabbath and as a group ceremony.
Besides the readings, girls pronounce a statement
of commitment and reflect on their duties as
Jewish women.