The Bar or Bat Mitzvah (Son or Daughter of the Commandment) is a unique Jewish life-cycle event and arguably the world’s most famous rite-of-passage ceremony. Its origins come from the Talmud, marking the time when a Jewish person becomes answerable for his or her own deeds, moral decisions and observance of Jewish tradition (as opposed to holding the parent morally accountable) and, as a consequence, becomes a full-fledged member of the community.  It corresponds to the developmental window when young persons are leaving childhood and entering adolescence. 

A Bar Mitzvah would often lead the worship service of the congregation, demonstrating his scholarship by reading or chanting from that week’s passages from the Torah or the Prophets.  At Temple Emanu-El, B’nai Mitzvah continue the tradition of leading the community in prayer and study. He or she conducts the Shabbat worship service, carries the Torah scroll through the congregation, reads or chants the Torah portion for the week and the additional (Haftarah) selection from one of the books of the Prophets, and composes a commentary based on his or her study of those texts.