"Bar Mitzvah" literally means "son of the commandment," and "bat" is daughter, so the term refers to the person who is now subject to the commandments. A Jewish boy automatically becomes a bar mitzvah when he turns 13 and a girl is a bat mitzvah at 12. The person is now responsible for his or her own actions, is eligible to be called to read from the Torah, and is legally old enough to be married according to Jewish law.
The term is more commonly used today to refer to the ceremony itself but a ceremony is not necessary. The elaborate ceremonies that are commonplace today are a relatively modern invention, not heard of 100 years ago, and not mentioned in Jewish law.
In its most basic form, a bar mitzvah is when the celebrant is called up to the Torah to recite a blessing over the weekly reading during the religious services on a Saturday shortly after the child's birthday. Calling the celebrant to say the blessing is called an "aliyah," meaning "to rise, to ascend; to go up." In modern times, it is now more common for the celebrant to learn much more than the blessing and also to make a speech, which traditionally begins with "today I am a man." The father also recites a blessing thanking God for removing the burden of being responsible for the son's or daughter's sins.
The religious service is often followed by an elaborate celebration, but this is more often done for sons than daughters. (The first public celebration of a Bat Mistzvah happened in 1922 in New York City.) Common gifts include religious books and items, savings bonds and gifts of cash. Because the Hebrew word for "life" is also the number 18, monetary gifts in multiples of 18 are common and considered especially auspicious.
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