bar and bat mitzvah

• at the age of 13 a boy is considered responsible to fulfil the mitzvot in the Torah
• years before a bar mitzvah a boy learns Hebrew so he can read a portion from the torah in the synagogue. a rabbi teaches him religious duties and importance of prayer
• girls do not have such large ceremonies as bar mitzvahs because they do not have the same religious duties
• orthodox jewish girls have a ceremony called a bat chayil (daughter of worth) when they are 12
• reform jewish girls become bat mitzvah at the age of 12 and can also form part of a minyan