The Bar & Bat
Mitzvah Celebration
A Brief Reflection
The Bar Mitzvah celebration, especially the events within the synagogue, is one of the most beautiful experiences in the life of a Jewish young man. In Orthodox Judaism, tells me Rabbi Yitzchok Adlertsein, Director of Interfaith Affairs of the Simon Wiesenthal: Center:
[T]he day wanes in significance as
time goes on... For the Orthodox, the day of the bar-mitzvah is truly a
beginning. The boy will lay tefillin six days a week for the rest of his life,
and participate in hundreds of mitzvot a week, contributing to a life style
considerably more beautiful than a few hours in the synagogue. He'll be called
up to the Torah regularly, not just on "his day." [in other words], it is a gateway experience,
but not a pillar of his connection to Judaism.
The Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and other
“progressive” Jewish movements have included the Bat Mitzvah. An attempt to
recognize the place of women within the life of the community, the synagogue
and the family. My dear friend Rabbi León Klenicki, z”l, who served as the
director of Interfaith Affairs and Co-Liaison to the Vatican for the ADL, wrote
that the Bar Mitzvah was a Jewish adaptation of the Catholic Church celebration
of the First Communion. The time when a Catholic child receives for the first
time the “Sacrament of Eucharist.” In the Bar (Bat) Mitzvah the young man (or
woman) makes a public statement and commitment to the Jewish faith by
receiving, and chanting from, the Torah scroll. There are some different
opinions; however, regardless of the debates, it is not more than a thousand
years old.
Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, especially in non-Orthodox settings, are full of beautiful well-rehearsed speeches, songs, and chanting of the Parasha, as Moshé Yess, z”l, described in his song David Cohen’s Bar Mitzvah Day. These are often followed by an extravagant party. Sometimes parents have saved money for years, probably since the birth of their child, for this occasion. Sadly, that song asks if it was worth the cost. Because, too often, it is that day when a Jewish child sees the Rabbi for the last time. It is regrettable how every so often many young Jewish men and women never return to the synagogue, except for his or her wedding, for his/her own child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and eventually for his or her own funeral. Once a while for the High Holidays.
Parents have a very important responsibility to remind their children that Jewish life and faith start and go before and beyond the Bat or Bar Mitzvah. Hebrew schools too often train their students to get ready for the celebration of this event, but not for a life committed to the Jewish faith. Just like the school that trains students to pass a test, but fails to empower him or her with knowledge for the challenges of life and the reality of this world. Students that can pass a State’s exam, but have not learned anything at all. So many Jewish children have memorized how to chant the Parasha in Hebrew, but do not know Hebrew. They can repeat what was taught, but have no understanding neither the knowledge and much less the wisdom that comes by a commitment to the Jewish faith and life.
The Synagogue with its Rabbis, regardless of “denomination” or tradition, have the duty to work, together with Jewish institutions within the community, in order to preserve more than a culture or a superficial and shallow concept of Judaism. We must preserve the Jewish faith, the foundation of our cultures, traditions, and practices. Bar and Bat Mitzvah is meaningless without a strong religious foundation that leads the child to a life commitment to the Jewish faith. After all, it is the Jewish faith that has kept the Jewish people. It is what unites us, regardless of interpretations, and it is that unity that can overcome antisemitism.
