Anadult bar/bat mitzvah is abarorbat mitzvah of aJewish person older than the customary age. Traditionally, abar orbat mitzvah occurs at age 13 for boys and 12 for girls. Adult Jews who have never had abar orbat mitzvah may choose to have one later in life, and many who have had one at the traditional age choose to have a second.[1] An adultbar orbat mitzvah can be held at any age after adulthood is reached and can be performed in a variety of ways.[2]
The adult and childb'nai mitzvot differ mainly in planning; adults plan their own celebrations, while children's are organized by their community or parent(s). Additionally, many relatives of the child may have died, and the adult often has a family of their own. Some Jewish men hold a secondbar mitzvah at age 83, marking 70 years since their first, with 83 symbolizingMoses’s age when he andAaron, his brother, first demanded theIsraelites' freedom fromPharaoh.[3][4]
There are many reasons adult Jews choose to have a bar or bat mitzvah:
Many adult men and women did not have a bat mitzvah as children due to lack of popularity and/or restrictive gender norms.
Individuals with learning disabilities that made the process of preparing for their bar or bat mitzvah too difficult during childhood.
Adults who have converted to Judaism may want a bar or bat mitzvah.
Many non-religious Jews who had little or no Jewish education as children.
Those who have had a bar or bat mitzvah as children decide to undergo renewal.
Transgender Jews who had a bar or bat mitzvah as their gender assigned at birth may wish to have the other one as an adult using their new gender and name.
Many Holocaust survivors didn't have the opportunity to have a bar or bat mitzvah.
Rabbi Albert Axelrad ofBrandeis University officiated the first adult bar and bat mitzvahs in the early 1970s. He encouraged the practice in all denominations of Judaism.[5]
Between 1995 and 2001,Hadassah held group adult Bat Mitzvah ceremonies for 180 women.[6]
In 2001, theUnion for Reform Judaism created a guide on adult bar and bat mitzvah programs which was adopted by 900 congregations. In 2002, the Conservative Movement adopted this guide as well.[6]
The process of becoming a bar or bat mitzvah for adults involves studying for a year or longer. It consists of Hebrew language, Jewish rituals, Torah readings, and Haftorah readings. Many synagogues provide classes for adults.
Paula Abdul had an adult bat mitzvah inSafed in 2013, at the age of 51. She had originally planned to hold it at theWestern Wall inJerusalem but changed her plans due tojet lag and the media circus that would follow.[7][8]
Armand Hammer died on December 11, 1990, on the evening before his planned bar mitzvah, at the age of 92.[9]
