Adult bar and bat mitzvah

An adult bar/bat mitzvah is a bar or bat mitzvah of a person older than the customary age. Traditionally, a bar or bat mitzvah occurs at age 13 and 12 for boys and girls respectively. But many adult Jews who have never had a bar or bat mitzvah choose to have one later in life, and many who have had one at the traditional age choose to have a second. An adult bar or bat mitzvah can be held at any age after adulthood is reached and can be performed in a variety of ways.

The adult bar/bat mitzvah, which can be held at any age, differs from the child's bar/bat mitzvah in that it is usually planned by the person themselves instead of their parents. Due to it taking place at an advanced stage of life, many relatives who are often present at a child's bar/bat mitzvah are deceased, and the person is often married and/or has children and sometimes grandchildren. Many men have second bar mitzvahs at the age of 83, representing 70 years since their first.

Reasons

There are many reasons adult Jews choose to have a bar or bat mitzvah.

• The adult bat mitzvah is especially popular among older women who did not have bat mitzvahs when they were young due to lack of popularity. Women were banned from performing certain rituals until the 1950s that the Reform and Conservative movements now allow.
• It is often held by those who have converted to Judaism
• Some who were rebellious when young and rejected having a bar/bat mitzvah then do so later
• Many who were raised with too little of a Jewish identity and had no bar/bat mitzvah at all or had one with little meaning will have one
• Those who have had a bar/bat mitzvah when they were young and are seeking renewal
• Many Holocaust survivors were unable to hold their bar mitzvahs during the Holocaust.

History

Rabbi Albert Axelrad of Brandeis University officiated the first adult bar mitzvahs in the early 1970s. He encouraged the practice in all denominations of Judaism.

Between 1995 and 2001, Hadassah held group adult bat mitzvah ceremonies for 180 women.

In 2001, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations created a guide on adult bat and bar mitzvah programs which was adopted by 900 congregations. In 2002, the Conservative Movement adopted this guide as well.

Process

The process of becoming an adult bar/bat mitzvah often involves the study, often a year or longer, of Hebrew, Jewish rituals, and reading the Torah. Many congregations offer classes for the purpose.

Notable adult bar/bat mitzvahs

• Paula Abdul had an adult bat mitzvah in Safed on November 2, 2013 at the age of 51. She had originally planned to hold it at the Western Wall in Jerusalem but changed her plans due to jet lag and the media circus that would follow.
• Armand Hammer died on December 11, 1990 on the evening before his planned bar mitzvah at age 92.
• In June 2012, actor David Arquette celebrated his Bar Mitzvah aged 40 at the Kotel.
• In October 2015, actor James Franco celebrated his Bar Mitzvah aged 37.

In popular culture, there have been depictions of adult bar mitzvahs on TV shows:

• An episode during the last season of The Dick Van Dyke Show depicts Buddy having his bar mitzvah, having been too poor to have one as a boy.
• The Simpsons episode "Today I Am a Clown" depicts Krusty the Klown having a bar mitzvah.

See also

• Coming of Age: Adult Bat Mitzvah

External links

• Rediscovering Judaism: Bar and Bat Mitzvah for Adults by Kerry M. Olitzky, Ronald H. Isaacs