M’kor Shalom: Bar/Bat Mitzvah Booklet

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Booklet

Congratulations on preparing for one of the most important days in any young Jewish man’s or young Jewish woman’s life!

To help you make this day as special as possible, we’re pleased to provide you with the tools to create your own Bar or Bat Mitzvah Booklet.

The documents—available for download—are sample text, graphics and terminology pages. Please be sure to submit your proposed booklet to the Bimah Protocol Committee at least one month prior to the date of your child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

Good luck and Mazal Tov!

Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah History
Throughout history, many groups of people have had rituals to celebrate the time when a boy becomes and man, and a girl becomes a woman. For Jewish people, these rituals are called Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah. Bar Mitzvah is the Hebrew phrase meaning "son of the commandment," and Bat Mitzvah means "daughter of the commandment." Becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah means that a boy or girl has become an adult, and is fully responsible for his or her morals and religious duties. It also means that he or she has become a full-fledged member of the Jewish community, and must follow the rules of Jewish life — the commandments.

Both rituals are usually held in the Jewish temple, or synagogue, and are followed by a party to celebrate. Family, friends, and members of the synagogue come to celebrate the young person's coming of age. During Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies, the boy or girl actively participates in the ceremony - reading prayers and giving his or her own personal speech. It is a chance for the young people to express themselves as individuals. Often, a Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah are essentially the same, and follow the same format. However, the form of the ceremony may vary, depending on the branch of Judaism and the young adult. Some Jewish boys and girls may not even have a formal ceremony at all.

Contrary to what many believe, the Bar Mitzvah ceremony did not originate from the Bible. It grew out of the need for boys to celebrate their coming of age, long before the Jewish religion existed. Historians and sociologists have discovered evidence of such rites of passage in ancient tribes and cultures all over the globe. The modern Bar Mitzvah has evolved and grown from these early rituals.