{"id":395,"count":2,"description":"<h2><strong>Make this\u00a0special day even more special\u00a0<\/strong><strong>with\u00a0a heartfelt Bat\/Bar Mitzvah Gift!<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">[one_half padding=\"0 10px 0 10px\"]<\/p>\r\n[fusion_dropcap color=\"\" boxed=\"yes\" boxed_radius=\"8px\" class=\"\" id=\"\"]<strong>I<\/strong>[\/fusion_dropcap]f you are in search of a unique and meaningful Bar Mitzvah gift that will be treasured for years to come, we have just the thing!\r\nHave a look at our personalized Bar\/Bat Mitzvah Nameplates below.\r\nDesigned by some of Israel\u2019s most gifted calligraphers, each ceramic nameplate is skillfully handcrafted and inscribed according to your specifications.\r\n\r\nNow, these are Bar\/Bat Mitzvah gifts that will really stand out on the simcha table!\r\nNot only that, but imagine the expression of joy and surprise when that special boy or girl opens the Bat\/Bar Mitzvah gifts to find a stunning ceramic tile nameplate\u2014exquisitely inscribed by hand and customized. You\u2019ll be forever engraved in their hearts!\r\n\r\nEach customized ceramic nameplate measures 23 x 18 cm (9\u201d x 7\u201d) and framed in finest natural pinewood. There is a hanger on the back for easy mounting or display.\r\n[\/one_half][one_half_last padding=\"0 10px 0 10px\"]\r\n<table style=\"background-color: #ffeca6\" border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"10\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>\r\n<h3>Let\u2019s create the perfect Bar\/Bat Mitzvah gift!<\/h3>\r\nBefore ordering a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah Nameplate as a gift, please make sure to have collected accurately the follow information regarding the boy or girl:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>English name<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Hebrew name<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Event date<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Title of the \"Parashah\", the Torah portion chanted on that day by the boy\/girl (if possible).<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<h3>The details inscribed on the tile:<\/h3>\r\nThe following details will be written in Hebrew or English according to your choice when ordering:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Date of the event<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Name\/s of the boy or girl<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Additional details, like location or a brief greeting<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[\/one_half_last]\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n[one_half padding=\"0 10px 0 10px\"]\r\n\r\n[responsive_youtube AHJf_lolSiQ\u00a0norel]\r\n\r\nDavid repeats his parashah during a visit to the ancient synagogue of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Synagogue_of_Casale_Monferrato\">Casale Monferrato<\/a>, Italy.\r\n\r\n[\/one_half]\r\n\r\n[one_half_last padding=\"0 10px 0 10px\"]\r\n\r\n[responsive_youtube QjCItaw52BA\u00a0norel]\r\n\r\n... While Esther, the little sister, congratulates David on his arrival at the age of\u00a0<em>mitzvot.<\/em>\r\n\r\n[\/one_half_last]\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>The meaning of Bar Mitzvah &amp; Bat Mitzvah<\/h2>\r\n<em>by Michael Hallel<\/em>\r\n\r\n[one_half padding=\"0 10px 0 10px\"]\r\n\r\n[fusion_dropcap color=\"\" boxed=\"yes\" boxed_radius=\"8px\" class=\"\" id=\"\"]<strong>A<\/strong>[\/fusion_dropcap] simple, literal translation of the term Bar Mitzvah would mean \u201cson of the commandment\u201d. The Aramaic word Bar means \u201cson\u201d, and the word Mitzvah means \u201ccommandment\u201d in both Hebrew and Aramaic. But as in other similarly combined terms, the expression as a whole carries a meaning slightly different than the literal addition of its words. For example, the term Bar Onshin does not simply mean \u201cson of punishment\u201d, but \u201cperson liable for punishment\u201d. Similarly, the term Bar Mitzvah meaning is actually: \u201c[Jewish, male, major] person obligated to the Commandments\u201d.\r\nThe term already carries this meaning in its earliest recorded use, in the Babylonian Talmud (Baba Metsi\u2019a, page 96A).\r\n\r\nAccordingly, under Jewish Law, the term Bar Mizvah refers to an adult Jew obligated to observe the Commandments, an obligation not binding children.\r\n\r\nThough not an outright requirement, the Bar Mitzva Ceremony formally marks the assumption of adult religious obligations, along with the corresponding rights to lead religious services, to be reckoned in counting the quorum for a minyan (the minimum number of people needed to perform certain parts of religious services), to enter into some contracts, but not to sell land or to marry.\r\nThe public ceremony notifies the whole community of the youngster\u2019s new status, obligations and rights included. In other words: a Bar Mitzvah is fully responsible for behaving morally and carrying out religious duties, and is eligible for becoming a fully fledged member of the Jewish community.\r\n\r\nBat Mitsvah is the feminine form of Bar Mitsvah, and refers to a \u201c[Jewish, female, major] person obligated to the Commandments.\u201d\r\n\r\nA Jewish boy automatically becomes a Bar Mitzvah on the day after he reaches the age of 13 years; a Jewish girl automatically becomes a Bat Mitzvah on the day after the age of 12 years.\r\n\r\n<b>In the past<\/b>\r\n\r\nThe Bible makes no mention of a Bar Mitzvah ceremony or celebration, but it is clear that the custom was common towards the end of the Second Temple period, as can be learned from ancient texts.\r\nThe Sages anchored the custom in the Bible by applying various homiletic commentaries to events in the Bible.\r\n\r\nAccording to Midrash Genesis Rabba (53, 10) Abraham held a feast when Isaac was \u201cweaned\u201d (Genesis 21, 8) away from the evil inclination and was ready to accept the responsibility of the Commandments.\r\nElsewhere, Midrash Genesis Rabba (63, 10) explains that Jacob \u201cgrew\u201d (Genesis 25, 27) and then went to Bet Hamidrash (to study Jewish law).\r\n\r\nAccording to Masseket Sopherim (18, 11) in the Talmud, after being trained, a mature boy was brought before the priest or elder to be blessed and encouraged to learn the Law and obey it. That would include the right to be called up to read a portion of the Torah.\r\n\r\nThe first report of an actual Bar Mitzvah ceremony seems to be that of the son of Rabbi Yehudai Ga\u2019on. The Rabbi is reported to have said that he had recited, in the synagogue, the blessing thanking G-d for removing the burden of responsibility for his son\u2019s sins when the son was called up to read the Torah for the first time (Orhot Hayyim, Berakot, 58).\r\n\r\nRabbi Abigdor Hatzarfati (13th century) ruled that a religious feast should be held to celebrate a boy\u2019s thirteenth birthday (Perushim UPsakim al HaTorah, 4 [8]).\r\nRabbi Menahem Tziyyoni (15th century) seems to be the first person to use the term \u201cBar Mitzvah\u201d to mean the occasion of becoming obligated to obey the commandments (Sefer Tziyyoni, comment on Genesis 1, 5).\r\nRabbi Shlomo Luria (\u201cMaharshal\u201d, 16th century, Poland) observed that the Jews of Ashkenaz (= Germany) would celebrate the Bar Mitzvah with a religious feast where a sermon would be delivered, probably one the youth had prepared (Yam Shel Shlomo, Baba Kama, 7:37).\r\nThe Book of Customs of the Worms Community (Germany, mid-17th century) notes that being called up to read from the Torah was a central part of the Bar Mitzvah ceremony there (Peraqim LeToldot HaHinnukh BeYisrael, vol. 1, 108).\r\nRabbi Abraham Gombiner (17th century, Poland) ruled that a religious feast celebrating a Bar Mitzvah should be as elaborate as if the youth were marrying (Magen Abraham, Orah Hayyim, 224, 4).\r\n\r\nA common topic for the sermon would concern Tefillin and it was often called Drashat Tefillin or Drush Tefillin. Among the Jews of Morocco it was common, at least from the beginning of the 19th century, to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah with a feast on a Wednesday, when the boy would wear Tefillin and deliver a sermon; he was consequently called up to read from the Torah on the coming Shabbat.\r\nIn Tangier in northern Morocco, the Bar Mitzvah sermon was already the central part of the ceremony in the 17th century.\r\nAmong the Jews of Iraq, too, the ceremony had these two stages. There, during the service, the celebrant\u2019s younger brothers would show their respect for him by rising and standing from the moment he was called up till he returned to his seat (MiMinhageyhem Shel Yehudei Iraq 24-30).\r\nThe custom in Persia was similar: on one of the days on which the Torah was read, the young celebrant would put on Tefillin and then be called up to the Torah, accompanied by the congregation\u2019s singing in his honor and their showering him with candies. A religious feast at his house followed. On the following Shabbat, the youth was called up to the Torah in a similar fashion, after which the family offered candies and sweetmeats to the congregation. A feast for the extended family ensued.\r\nIn the Yemen, however, the Bar Mitzvah boy\u2019s sermon was the climax of the ceremony, as there younger boys were also called up to read from the Torah.\r\n\r\nThe existence of a special religious celebration of a Bat Mizvah for a girl is known only since after the early 19th century in Germany and in Italy (Efrati, BiSdeh Hemed 1961; Zebed HaBat; Barkat, Haaretz newspaper, May 27, 2003). In Germany, Rabbi Ettlinger would deliver an address at such celebrations in the mid-19th century.\r\nIn Iraq it was strongly advocated by Rabbi Joseph Hayyim (Ben Ish Hai, 1st year, \u201cRe\u2019eh\u201d, 17) but did not carry a formal religious characteristic.\r\n\r\nThe first time a girl was called up to read from the Torah as part of becoming a Bat Mizvah was in the early 1920s (Barkat). Several rabbis of the 20th\u201321st century have voiced the opinion that a girl\u2019s Bat Mizvah should be celebrated or even followed up on this by specific actions.\r\nIn Tunis, Rabbi Shetroug used to deliver a sermon during girls\u2019 Bat Mizvah celebrations during the 1920s.\r\n\r\nAfter the Holocaust, Rabbi Yehiel Weinberg wrote that he thought it logical and almost obligatory to celebrate a girl\u2019s Bat Mizvah (Seridei Esh 2, 39).\r\nRabbi Meshulam Ratta (Roth) wrote, in 1957, that he supported celebrating a girl\u2019s Bat Mizvah (Kol Mevasser 2, 44).\r\nRabbi Hanokh Grosberg published his opinion that a girl\u2019s Bat Mizvah was to be celebrated within the family, accompanied by a sermon on girls\u2019 education, thereby turning the occasion into a religious feast (HaMa\u2019ayan 1962).\r\nRabbi Yitzhak Nissim, (in 1963) said a girl\u2019s Bat Mizvah is to be marked by her praying in the synagogue, and celebrated at a feast in honor of the occasion at which she delivers a sermon and reads out Judges 5, and her father pronounces he is no longer responsible for her sins. This turns it into a religious feast and all those invited are obligated to participate.\r\nRabbi Musafia said that a father\u2019s feast in honor of his daughter having reached the age she is obligated to fulfill the commandments is worthy of being a religious feast.\r\nRabbi Ovadiah Hadayah says that as at Bat Mizvah a girl becomes a young (obligated) woman, she has reached a higher personal level and therefore deserves a religious celebration.\r\nRabbi Ovadiah Yosef, relying on several of these modern predecessors, complains about the discrimination between boys and girls reaching the obligatory age, and says a girl\u2019s Bat Mizvah should be celebrated (Yabia Omer, part 6, 15).\r\n\r\n[\/one_half][one_half_last padding=\"0 10px 0 10px\"]\r\n<h3><strong>Nowadays<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nToday the most basic form of a Bar Mitzvah ceremony is the celebrant\u2019s first Aliyah laTorah (calling up to read from the Torah). On the Shabbat, Monday or Thursday morning service after the child\u2019s thirteenth birthday, the celebrant is called up to the Torah to recite the blessings preceding and following the reading of one part of that week\u2019s Parashah.\r\n\r\nIt is common practice for the Bar Mitzvah celebrant to do much more than just recite the blessings. Usually the celebrant also learns the entire Haphtarah, including its traditional chant, and recites that. In some congregations, the celebrant reads the entire weekly Torah portion, or leads part of the service, or leads the congregation in certain prayers.\r\nThe celebrant may sometimes also be required to deliver a sermon. The father recites a blessing thanking G-d for removing the burden of responsibility for the son\u2019s sins.\r\nThe religious service is often immediately followed by a ritual meal in the synagogue for the congregants, at which the Bar Mitzvah may be the adult to recite Kiddush (brief prayer and blessing preceding the meal).\r\n\r\nRituals are usually complemented by a party that is often as elaborate as a wedding reception.\r\nFamily, friends and members of the synagogue come to celebrate the young person\u2019s coming of age. The Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mizvah actively participates in the ceremonial parts of the reception party, reading prayers and making a personal speech, which traditionally begins with the phrase \u201cToday I am a man.\u201d\r\nIn some communities it is still the custom for the audience to start singing loudly a short while after the speech begins, thereby cutting the sermon short. This is done so that the young Bar Mitzvah wouldn\u2019t feel embarrassed if he couldn\u2019t proceed with the sermon due to stage fright.\r\n\r\nThe precise form of a girl\u2019s Bat Mizvah ceremony varies, depending on the branch of Judaism and the young adult.\r\nIn some congregations it is exactly the same as a boy\u2019s Bar Mitzvah. In others, the Bat Mizvah may read from the Torah after the regular reading (in the women\u2019s partition or in front of the Ark), during or immediately following the general service.\r\nIn some congregations the Bat Mizvah may deliver a sermon during a special mixed or an all-female service or religious feast.\r\nThe sermon traditionally focuses on the religious aspects of becoming an adult woman, such as lighting candles, preparing challah, religious physical purity, children\u2019s education, or any religious topic stemming from the week\u2019s Portion.\r\nSometimes the young adult reads the Song of Songs.\r\nIn other communities the Bat Mizvah\u2019s sermon may include religious learning, praying in front of the Holy Ark, and even reading from the Torah.\r\nIn some cases the girl\u2019s father is called up to the Torah in the synagogue.\r\nAccording to the above-mentioned modern rabbis, he may then recite the blessing thanking G-d for removing his responsibility for the daughter\u2019s sins. In other cases he gives a Talmudic lesson in his daughter\u2019s honor.\r\n\r\nIn ultra-orthodox and Hasidic practice, women are present but not active participants in religious services in the ways outlined here, so a Bat Mizvah celebration, if marked at all, may be little more than an occasion for a new dress and a family party.\r\n\r\nSome Jewish boys and girls may not have a formal ceremony at all. However, their religious obligations do not depend on any ceremony, but on having reached the right age.\r\n\r\n<strong>Right Age for Bar &amp; Bat Mitzvah<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAs the\u00a0Bible\u00a0does not mention a\u00a0Bar Mitzvah, it does not stipulate its precise age.\u00a0Later, the\u00a0Sages\u00a0made it clear that\u00a0a boy assumes the obligations of a\u00a0Bar Mitzvah\u00a0at the age of thirteen.\u00a0Some concluded this by commenting on the Bible, others presented various explanations without relying on it.\r\n\r\nAt the end of the first century, Samuel Hakatan (in a Beraita on Abot 5) referred to a passage where Levi, Jacob\u2019s son, is called an \u201cish\u201d (= man, Genesis 34, 25) and explained he had been thirteen at the time.\r\nThe Talmud (compiled at the end of the fifth century) is not always quite precise about the right age for assuming religious obligations. Massekhet Sofrim (18, 11) says that in Jerusalem they used to train the boys in observing Mitzvot for about a year from before the age of 12 till maturity. But in Massekhet Abot (5, 21), traditionally from the fifth-sixth century, the Talmud is quite specific and mentions the age of thirteen as the appropriate age for assuming the obligations of Mitzvot. Massekhet Kiddushim (16:2) claims a boy becomes an adult at the age of thirteen years and a day.\r\nThe logic for this age is explained in extra-Talmudic sources.\r\nMidrash Genesis Rabba (63, 10) comments on Genesis 25, 27 and explains that a boy grows till the age of thirteen, and that at that age Jacob went to Bet Hamidrash (to study Jewish law).\r\nThe explanation in Abot de-Rabbi Natan (16, 2) claims it is at the age of thirteen that a person develops the good characteristics required to overcome his evil inclinations. That is why a boy\u2019s father is accountable for his misdeeds till then, as both Midrash Genesis Rabbah (16, 10) and Yalkut Shimoni (13th century) explain. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (26, attributed to Rabbi Eliezer of 1st \u2013 2nd century, but perhaps from 8th century) claims Abraham to have been thirteen years old when he adopted the worship of G-d and forsook the idols.\r\nRashi (Rabbi Shlomo Ytzhaki, 11-12th century, northern France) claimed that the age of thirteen was an obligation Moses had been given with the Law on Mount Sinai (Comment on Abot 5, 21).\r\nMaimonides (\u201cRambam\u201d, 12th century, Yad Hazakah, Ishut 2, 10) stipulated that a boy becomes obligated at the age of thirteen years and a day. This was also Rabbi Abigdor Tzarfati\u2019s idea (Perushim UPsakim al HaTorah, 479-480).\r\n\r\nA 14th century interpretation of Samuel Hakatan\u2019s Beraita by Shimon ben Tzemah Duran (\u201cRashbatz\u201d) relies on the numerical value of the Hebrew consonants in the word \u201czo\u201d (= this, Isaiah 43, 21) to prove the age of thirteen as befitting for assuming the obligations of adulthood (Magen Abot, D). Rabbi Menahem Tziyyoni (15th century) relies on the numerical value of the consonants in the word \u201cehad\u201d (=one, Genesis 1, 5) to conclude that thirteen is the right age (Sefer Tziyyoni on the Torah).\r\nIn Morocco a Jewish boy became obligated to obey the Law after the age of twelve, when he began to learn Talmudic portions by heart.\r\nThe Talmud specifies that a girl becomes an adult at the age of twelve.\r\nMassekhet Niddah (45:A+B) says a girl is a minor till she reaches the age of twelve years and a day, and from that age may become pregnant and avow herself.\r\nThe custom of a girl becoming\u00a0Bat Mitzvah\u00a0at the age of twelve years and a day is also prescribed by Maimonides (Yad Hazakah, Ishut 2, 1-2). He, however, sees a girl maturing in two stages: after twelve years and a day she is no longer a minor, but only after twelve years and six months is she an adult.\r\nRabbi Jacob ben Moshe (\u201cMaharil\u201d, 14-15th century Germany) claimed that the age of twelve for a\u00a0Bat Mitzvah\u00a0was an obligation Moses had been given with the Law on Mount Sinai (Responsa Maharil 51).\r\n\r\nSeveral propositions have been offered to explain why boys and girls become obligated to obey the Commandments at different ages.\r\nThe Talmud postulates that women gain wisdom faster than men, basing this on understanding the verb in the Torah on the creation of Eve as meaning that G-d \u201cmade [her] wise\u201d (= vayiben, Genesis 2, 22) (Tractate Nidah 5,6).\r\nRashi, in commenting on children\u2019s education, observed that baby girls grow strong faster because they don\u2019t tire from learning Torah (comment on Masseket Ketubot 50 A).\r\nMaimonides commented that the reason was that women usually live shorter lives than men (Commentary on the Mishnah, Nidah 5,6).\r\n\r\nAn adult convert to Judaism becomes a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah upon converting.\r\n\r\n<strong>Documentation Sources<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Jewish Encyclopedia<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ozar Yisrael Encyclopedia (Hebrew)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Bar Mizvah Encyclopedia (Hebrew) 1958<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Talmudic Encyclopedia (Hebrew)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Encyclopaedia Hebraica (Hebrew)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Encyclopedia Judaica<\/li>\r\n \t<li>MiMinhageyhem VeOrah Hayyeyhem Shel Yehudei Iraq (Hebrew) 1980(?)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Halikhot Bat Yisrael (Hebrew) 1984<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Zebed HaBat (Hebrew) 1990<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Sefer Hayyei Adam: Gil HaMitzvot (Hebrew) 1993<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Lihyot Ishah Yehudiah (Hebrew) 2001<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Ma\u2019amad HaIshah BaHalakhah (Hebrew) 2001<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Bat Mitzvah (Hebrew) 2002<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Lihyot Ishah Yehudiah, vol. 2 (Hebrew) 2003<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Bat Mitzva and Bar Mizvah (Hebrew) 2004<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Lihyot Ishah Yehudiah, vol. 3 (Hebrew) 2005<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nBiblical and Talmudic references were rechecked, as were most other references.\r\n\r\n[\/one_half_last]\r\n\r\n<hr style=\"width: 100%\" width=\"100%\" \/>\r\n\r\n<em>\u00a0Thank you for reading the information published in this page. Your corrections, comments, remarks will be appreciated.\r\n<strong>Please note:<\/strong>\u00a0this article is copyrighted by\u00a0<\/em><em><span style=\"font-weight: 700 !important\">\u00a9\u00a0<\/span><\/em><em>Small Signs\u00a0<\/em><em><span style=\"font-weight: 700 !important\">\u00a0<\/span><\/em><em>and you cannot copy or use it without our written permission. Thank you.<\/em>","link":"https:\/\/www.smallsigns.net\/en\/products\/jewish-gifts\/bar-mitzvah\/","name":"Bar Mitzvah &amp; Bat Mitzvah Nameplates","slug":"bar-mitzvah","taxonomy":"product_cat","parent":394,"meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallsigns.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat\/395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallsigns.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallsigns.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/product_cat"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smallsigns.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat\/394"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smallsigns.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?product_cat=395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}