Bar and Bat mitvah

• Bar mitzvah means "son of the commandment" this is the coming of age ceremony for boys

  Bat mitzvah means "daughter of the commandment" this is the coming of age ceremony for girls
• When boys turn 13 and girls turn 12 they are considered old enough to take full responsibility for practicing their faith and obeying the mitzvot.
• The boy will read from the Torah in the normal synagogue service (they must learn Hebrew first). He wears the tallit for the first time . A Jewish boy can now become part of the mitzvot.
• Girls do a variety of learning, volunteering and charitable tasks which may include baking challah bread for shabbat. Reform Jews teach that girls can now count as part of a minyan.
• In orthodox families a girls Bat Mitzvah may be marked with a family meal and religious gifts at home.