Bar Mitzvah, "son of commandment", or Bat Mitzvah, "daughter of commandment" are Jewish coming of age rituals that mark an important turning point in our teenagers’ lives. In accordance to Jewish tradition, when a boy is thirteen years old is ready to accept the responsibilities and benefits of an adult inside the community. In the Reform Judaism, given that men and women have the same rights girls also achieve “Bat Mitzvah” at the age of thirteen.
During the year previous to the ceremony, boys and girls get ready through the study of texts and traditions that connect them to past generations. Once they have finished the study program, they take their role for the first time as full members of the community, declaring their commitment to live a full and responsible Jewish life.
This transition to adult life takes place in the form of a ceremony in the synagogue where the teenagers get their talit, they are called for the first time to the Torah, when they read or chant in Hebrew several paragraphs of the week’s parashah and the corresponding haftarah.
The parents, grandparents and other family members play an important role in the ceremony, participating actively in the delivery of the Torah from one generation to the next, having the honour to being called to the Torah reading and blessing the Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
The Torah is being read in the synagogue in Shabbat, in the morning or afternoon, in Rosh Chodesh and the mornings of Mondays and Thursdays. The Bar/Bat Mitzvah can be celebrated in any of these occasions, but usually the families choose the Shabbat.
At the end of the service, the teenagers address those present to discuss the parashah and haftarah, expressing their own thoughts and feelings in a d’var Torah. When the religious service is over, family and friends join in a special meal to celebrate it.
In the Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration, boys and girls show not only their commitment to keep connected to past generations, but also their commitment to Jewish values, that is, rituals, communitarian prayer, religious and secular education, tzedakah practice and Jewish ethics.
The Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony recognizes a decisive moment in the lives of the teenagers, their families and all the Jewish community. Every week, when a young one reads the Torah for the first time, we are reinforcing our tradition and securing our future.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR A BAR/ BAT MITZVAH IN BET SHALOM
Soon we will open a study program for Bar/Bat Mitzvah preparation for teenagers and also one for adults that couldn’t do it in their time. If you would like more information regarding this, please send us an email here
We offer orientation and counseling services for families with all the necessary information related to a Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony in Barcelona.
If you would like more information, please send us an email here and we will help you with all you might need.
