QandAs: Buzz

What is a Bar Mitzvah?

Answer:
A Bar Mitzvah is a Jewish boy who has reached

13 years of age and is assuming the religious and personal responsibilities of adulthood. It is also the name for the initiation process to assume those responsibilities.

The Bar Mitzvah is an ordinary Sabbath service in which a boy participates for the first time. It is the time in a Jewish child's life in which he or she becomes responsible for his or her actions and compliance with Jewish religious rules.

A Bat Mitzvah is the ritual for Jewish girls who have reached 12 years of age and often coincides with physical puberty.

In modern Jewish observance, the occasion of becoming a Bar Mitzvah or a Bat Mitzvah usually involves the young man or woman being called to read the Torah and/or Haftarah portion at a Shabbat or other service and may also involve giving a d'var Torah, a discussion of that week's Torah portion. Precisely what the Bar/Bat Mitzvah may do during the service varies in Judaism's different denominations and can also depend on the specific practices of various congregations.