What event does bar and bat mitzvah mark in Jewish life?
Historically, first bar mitzvah and later bat mitzvah represented a ceremonial recognition that a young person had reached the age when he or she was responsible for the performance of the mitzvot/ commandments. The individual was then no longer a minor according to Jewish law and, thereby, took on new religious privileges and responsibilities. For boys, this age was thirteen, for girls, twelve. What is the origin of bar mitzvah? The beginnings of bar mitzvah ritual are obscure. It is not mentioned in the Torah, nor is there any biblical indication that thirteen was the age at which one attained religious majority. Most scholars feel that the association between age thirteen and mandated religious observance began during the Second Temple period (between 516 B.C.E. and 70 C.E.). A section of the Babylonian Talmud (second of third century C.E.) affirms that “until the thirteenth year, it is the father’s duty to raise his son.” After that, however he must say “Blessed be He who has remov
