What is Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah?

Bar or Bat Mitzvah means “Subject to the Mitzvot,” that is, one who takes responsibility for the holy tasks that are theirs to do.

Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah is different from that of an adolescent one. For the young teen, the process is one of coming to grips with the reality that she or he is becoming their own person and that he or she will have to take responsibility for defining themselves, a task that they may not have confronted as clearly before. That they are becoming a Jewish adult is also significant, but it is bound up with the complex of physical and psychological changes that the young teen is undergoing. But for the adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah, it is the Jewish component that is most significant. It comes at a selected moment in an adult’s life when he or she wants to mark their spiritual identification and discern for themselves what it is that uniquely defines them as the Jew that they are now—and that they are yet becoming.

So for each individual what it means to become adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah will differ based on what they have discerned is their current moment in their spiritual journey. And yet, even though each person’s discernment process may be unique, the celebration of adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a communal service with several B’ney/B’not Mitzvah co-leading a service together. This is because our adult spirituality, as we practice it in the congregation, is in the context of a community of spiritual journeyers and as such we celebrate this moment co-leading a service with others who are also struggling to discern their unique spiritual path and their particular contribution to Jewish civilization. The celebrants model for the community what it means to consciously search for one’s Jewish pathway.

The Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Requirements

In general, the adult Bar or Bat Mitzvah should have taken at least four core classes in Judaism that are repeated at intervals in our adult education program. They do not have to be taken in any particular order, and any two of them can be studied apart from Kehilla adult ed. However, we highly recommend and we usually require that at least two of the core classes be taken in Kehilla so that those who are aiming for celebrating the Bar/Bat Mitzvah event have developed a sense of community with each other and have had some common study experiences.

The classes – as they are taught in Kehilla – are five sessions of two hours each:

*Jewish History
*Jewish Thought
*Torah and Interpretation
*Jewish Spiritual/Ritual Practice (a.k.a. “Doing Jewish”)

Proficiency in Hebrew is not a requirement for adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah, but many adult students elect to study some Hebrew, often to be able to read words using Hebrew lettering rather than using transliteration.

One other requirement is to meet with the rabbi for the purpose of clarifying where you understand yourself to be in your Jewish journey, and also to have a Spiritual Direction session with one of our Spiritual Directors.