Who is a Bar or Bat Mitzvah? Bar Mitzvah means "Son" of the Commandment. Bat Mitzvah means "Daughter" of the Commandment. Jewish tradition teaches that a Jew becomes responsible for observing the Commandments upon his or her 13th birthday, with or without a ceremony -- and thus becoming a "Bar or Bat Mitzvah."
The Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony has long been a powerful and popular life cycle ritual in the Jewish community surviving from generation to generation. The child demonstrates his/her Hebrew ability to lead the blessings and the service on his/her own. Most importantly, the child is called upon to read aloud from the Ancient Sefer Torah for the first time. The Torah is a long scroll made from the skin of a kosher animal. It contains the entire text of the Five Books of Moses. Every Torah takes an entire year to be hand-written by a specially trained scribe. The scribe writes a Torah in the original Hebrew but without vowels or punctuation. It is rolled up around two wooden rollers which are attached to either end of the scroll.
Parents are also called up to the Torah. Relatives of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah are usually honored with roles during the service. The entire community offers prayers of thanks and expressions of joy and pride.
How do you congratulate the Bar/Bat Mitzvah? You can say "mazel tov" or "congratulations."
Cantor Jan Lieberman
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Training
561-742-7583
1 comment:
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