What is a Bar Mitzvah?

Bar Mitzvah is a Jewish coming of age ritual. According to Jewish law, when Jewish boys become 13 years old, they become accountable for their actions and become a bar mitzvah. A girl becomes a bat mitzvah at the age of 12 according to Orthodox and Conservative Jews, and at the age of 13 according to Reform Jews. Prior to reaching bar mitzvah age, the child's parents hold the responsibility for the child's actions. After this age, the boys and girls bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics, and are able to participate in all areas of Jewish community life. Traditionally, the father of the bar mitzvah gives thanks to God that he is no longer punished for the child's sins . In addition to being considered accountable for their actions from a religious perspective, bar mitzvah may be counted towards a prayer quorum and may lead prayer and other religious services in the family and the community.

Bar (בַּר‬) is a Jewish Babylonian Aramaic word literally meaning "son" (בֵּן‬), in Hebrew, and mitzvah (מִצְוָה‬) means "commandment" or "law" (plural: mitzvot). Thus bar mitzvah literally translate to "son of commandment". However, in rabbinical usage, the word bar means "under the category of" or "subject to". Bar mitzvah therefore translates to "a person who is subject to the law".

Reaching the age of bar or bat Mitzvah signifies becoming a full-fledged member of the Jewish community with the responsibilities that come with it. These include moral responsibility for one's own actions; eligibility to be called to read from the Torah and lead or participate in a minyan; the duty to follow the 613 laws of the Torah and keep the halakha, the collective body of Jewish religious laws.

Shabbat - The Jewish Sabbath

Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath (Day of Rest), begins on Friday evening and concludes on Saturday evening. It is a weekly time set apart to focus on gratitude for our lives and our communities, and for the growth of the spirit. Services take place on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, Saturday afternoons and evenings, culminating in a Havdalah service which marks the end of Shabbat.

The Shabbat liturgy includes special prayers that stress the importance and lessons of Shabbat, highlighting the themes of God’s creation of the world and God’s redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt. Since Shabbat is a day of rest not just for people, but for God, Shabbat prayers generally do not include requests of God, but rather, praise for God.

Shabbat is also a day on which we read from the Torah.  A central part of the Saturday Shabbat service is known as Seder K’riat HaTorah (Service for the Reading of Torah), and contains special prayers and songs that highlight the importance of Torah. The Torah is kept in a special place called an Aron HaKodesh (Ark) and is dressed in “attire” that mimics the garb of the ancient priests. When the Torah is brought out of the Ark, the congregation rises, and does not sit until the Torah is undressed and ready to be read. Each week, Jews around the world read from the same parashah (portion) of Torah, making the Torah reading one of the key unifiers of time and message in the entire Jewish world.

Havdalah

Havdalah (Hebrew: הַבְדָּלָה, "separation") is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Sabbath and Jewish holidays, and ushers in the new week. The ritual involves lighting a special havdalah candle with several wicks, blessing a cup of wine and smelling sweet spices.