Bar/Bat Mitzvah Guide

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Bar/Bat Mitzvah is the Jewish community’s way of recognizing that an adolescent has learned
enough, and matured enough, to be granted religious responsibility. The process of preparing for
Bar/Bat Mitzvah involves the entire family. In the broadest sense, the first steps of Bar/Bat Mitzvah
began years ago, with the creation of a Jewish atmosphere in your home, with commitment to a Jewish
way of life and to Jewish education, and through active affiliation with a synagogue. Now that your
child is 12 years old, the process of preparation, both for your child and your family, will intensify.
There are few life cycle events which are remembered for as long a period of time, or celebrated
as enthusiastically, as Bar/Bat Mitzvah. It can be a deeply meaningful and moving occasion, for which
families prepare extensively, and for which relatives and friends from across the country go to great
lengths to attend. Preparing for such an occasion can seem overwhelming. We hope that the
information in this guidebook will help to minimize your “Bar/Bat Mitzvah stress,” and enable you to
focus on the truly meaningful aspects of this wonderful time in your family’s religious life.
This guidebook is written to help parents understand the basic meaning of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah
process, and to assist the family in experiencing this simcha* as part of a religious community.
Basic information is provided; commonly-asked questions are answered; and suggestions are given for
involving the family in the overall celebration. A glossary of terms is included on pages 17-21. (Terms
listed in the glossary appear with an asterisk the first time they are mentioned in the guidebook.)
A guidebook of this nature cannot answer all of your questions, or explain every facet of the
Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience. We invite you to contact the Rabbi* or Cantor* (Hazzan) for additional
information or guidance.