Why Celebrate a Bar Mitzvah?
Rabbi Yosef was a blind sage; whether he was obligated in the mitzvot he was fulfilling was a matter of dispute between Rabbi Yehuda and the other sages. Rabbi Yehuda s opinion is that a blind man is exempt from mitzvot, while the other sages held that he is as obligated as a seeing man. At first Rabbi Yosef used to say that if he would be informed that the ruling is according to Rabbi Yehuda, i.e., that he is exempt, he would make a feast of celebration for all of the Torah scholars, because he would then anticipate the great reward due him for fulfilling mitzvot without being obligated. Then he heard what Rabbi Chanina said about the one who is obligated in a mitzvah being considered greater than the one who fulfills it even though he is not obligated. He thereupon declared that if he is informed that the ruling is according to the other sages, i.e., that he is obligated, he will make that feast. Tosefot explains that the one who is obligated deserves a greater reward because he has
