ANSWERS: 2
  • No, not Orthodox. Non-Orthodox, yes.
  • Orthodox Jews believe that a bar or bat mitzvah is a matter of age. In other words- as soon as a boy turns 13, he is called bar mitzvah. Likewise, as soon as a girl turns 12, she is considered bat mitzvah. Practically, from that age a boy/girl is considered an adult Jew/ess and responsible to observe the laws of Judaism. To mark a boy's "coming of age", he gets called to the Torah in the synagogue. This indicates that he has officially reached the age of majority. If he is not called to the Torah or has no other ceremony, he is still considered bar mitzvah. Similarly, a girl needs no formal ceremony to be considered bat mitzvah, it happens as she turns 12. In recent years, some communities (Reform) introduced a bat mitzvah ceremony for girls, to match the boy's ceremony. I guess the reason for this was that the girls shouldn't be discriminated against. This is quite ironic, because they made the bat mitzvah age 13, whereas Orthodox Judaism believes that girls mature earlier than boys, and achieve majority at 12.

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