Brit Milah and Bar Mitzvah

So, for a proselyte, Jewish life begins with conversion. During this rite, both men and women perform ritual ablutions in a special pool, the mikveh. Men also undergo a rite of circumcision, brit milah. This ancient tradition, according to the Bible, dates back to the first Jew, Abraham, who first performed the rite to commemorate the covenant made between him and God. Abraham was 99 years old – hence, it is never too late to become a Jew. It is customary for boys born into Jewish families to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth.

The next important rite of life cycle is the bar mitzvah (literally “son of the commandment”), boys undergo it when they reach the age of 13. From this age, males are considered old enough to fulfill all the laws of Judaism. An analogous ceremony for girls, bat-mitzvah (“daughter of a commandment”), appeared relatively recently, at the end of XIX – beginning of XX century, and originally was made only in liberal religious circles, which, following “the spirit of the time”, aspired to equalize the rights of women and men. The ceremony had its detractors, but eventually it became accepted and is performed today in most Jewish families. During a bar mitzvah, a boy reads a chapter of scripture (Torah) in public for the first time in his life. The bar mitzvah depends on the degree of liberality of the community: it is either a reading aloud of the Torah, or a modest celebration in the family circle.