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BAR MITZVAH, BAT MITZVAH (Heb. masc. הָ וְצִמ רַ ּב,
fem. הָ וְצִמ תַ ּב; lit. “son/daughter of the commandment,” i.e.,
a person under obligation, responsible), term denoting both
the attainment of religious and legal maturity as well as the
occasion at which this status is formally assumed for boys at
the age of 13 plus one day, for girls at 12 plus one day (Maim.
Yad, Ishut, 2:9–10). Upon reaching this age a Jew is obliged
to fulfill all the *commandments (Avot 5:1; cf. Yoma 82a). Although
the term occurs in the Talmud for one who is subject
to the law (BM 96a), its usage to denote the occasion of assuming
religious and legal obligations does not appear before
the 15th century (Sefer Ẓiyyoni of R. Menahem Ẓiyyoni
to Gen. 1:5). A special celebration for a girl, the bat mitzvah,
is not found mentioned before Ben Ish Ḥai, the legal code by
Joseph Ḥayyim b. Elijah (19th cent.).
While the occasion of becoming bar/bat mitzvah was
thus formalized only in later times, it is obvious from various
sources that the status of obligation for boys of 13 was assumed
in early times. According to Eleazar b. Simeon (second century
C.E.), a father was responsible for the deeds of his son until
the age of 13. For example the vows of a boy 13 and a day old
are considered valid vows (Nid. 5:6). From then on a person
can perform acts having legal implications, such as being a
member of a bet din, being reckoned as part of a minyan, and
buying and selling property. Yet there are notable exceptions,
e.g., the testimony of a 13-year-old is not valid regarding real
estate because he is “not knowledgeable about buying and selling”
(Maim. Yad, Edut, 9:8).
Jewish law fixed 13 as the age of responsibility considering
this the time of physical maturity for boys (and 12 for
girls; Kid. 16b). At this age young people are thought to be
able to control their desires (ARN2 16, 62–63). Rashi claims
that bar mitzvah as a status of obligation was “in the category
of biblical laws, as it was given to Moses at Sinai” (comment.
to Avot 5:1). Midrashic literature gives many references for
13 as the turning point in the life of a young person, e.g.,
Abraham rejected the idols of his father at this age (PdRE 26),
and at 13 Jacob and Esau went their separate ways, the former
to study Torah, the latter to idol-worship (Gen. R. 63:10).
Until 13 a son receives the merit of his father and is also liable
to suffer for his parent’s sin; after that each one bears his
own sin (Yal. Ruth 600). This is also the time of transition
from elementary school to the bet ha-midrash (ibid.). A tradition
recorded in talmudic literature (Sof. 18:7, ed. M. Higger
1937) alludes to the fact that in Jerusalem during the period
of the Second Temple, it was customary for the sages to
bless a child who had succeeded in completing his first fast
day at 12 or 13.
Being Called to the Torah
The calling up to the reading of the Torah is a symbol of a boy’s
attaining maturity. He is called up on the first occasion that
the Torah is read following his 13th birthday according to the
Jewish calendar. This is the first public demonstration of his
new role as a full member of the community and, in modern
times, it is to this occasion that the term bar mitzvah usually
refers. When the boy’s father is called to the Torah, he recites
the benediction, “Blessed is He who has now freed me from
the responsibility of this one” (Gen. R. loc. cit.). Among observant
Jews in Eastern Europe the boy was usually called up to
the Torah on the Monday or the Thursday following his birthday.
In Western Europe, the occasion took on a more ceremonial
importance, and it was customary for the bar mitzvah boy
to be called up to the Torah to read the maftir portions and the
haftarah on the first Sabbath after his birthday. For this task he
had previously been prepared. According to an old Ashkenazi
custom in Lithuania, Ereẓ Israel, etc., the boy recited the maftir
on the Sabbath just before becoming fully 13, and immediately
upon coming of age he received an ordinary aliyah. In the 17th
and 18th centuries the custom was recorded in Worms, Germany,
that those boys who were able and had pleasing voices
conducted parts or all of the service. In some communities
it was and still is customary for the young man to read the
whole portion of the week. On a Sabbath when a bar mitzvah
is celebrated, the morning service assumes a more festive atmosphere.
Members of the boy’s family are also called up to
the reading of the Torah, and a special sermon is frequently
delivered by the rabbi, stressing the boy’s new responsibilities
and privileges. In many modern synagogues, the rabbi ends
his sermon by invoking the *Priestly Blessing or other blessing,
and the bar mitzvah boy is given a gift from the congregation.
After the service, a festive Kiddush is often held, with
a banquet on the same or the following day. Some authorities
ruled that parents must arrange a banquet when their son became
bar mitzvah just as they do on the day of his wedding
(see Magen Avraham on Sh. Ar., Oḥ 225:2). Among the Jews
of Morocco a special piyyut is recited when a bar mitzvah boy
is called up to the Torah and, in most synagogues, a special
*Mi she-Berakh blessing is made at the end of the reading for
the boy and his family.
Putting on Tefillin
The major ritual innovation obligatory on a boy reaching bar
mitzvah is that henceforth he is required to put on tefillin for
the morning prayer. He is usually coached in the forms of
the rite some time before the bar mitzvah. The Sephardim
and some of the Ḥasidim, interpreting the Kabbalah very
exactly, insist that tefillin cannot be worn one day before bar
mitzvah. Only when the boy has become fully 13 and one day
does he keep this commandment. For the Sephardim the first
occasion of putting on the tefillin was part of the celebration
of the bar mitzvah itself. At that time a scholar or elder was
honored with aiding the young man in donning the tefillin.
Ḥasidim of the Ḥabad school taught that boys began putting
on tefillin two months prior to the actual bar mitzvah, the
first month without pronouncing the blessing, and the second
month saying it.
164 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3