Title: Bar Mitzvah
General Information about Item:
- Initiation Ritual
- Culture: Judaism
- Informant: Justin Kramer
- Date Collected: 2018
Informant Data:
- Justin Kramer is from San Francisco, California. He went to a Jewish school from Kindergarten through 8th grade. He was raised Jewish his entire life, and his parents are both Jewish. His family is not very religious, but they do still participate in most holidays and traditions to stay a part of the community. Most of the people Justin knows are Jewish since he grew up going to a Jewish school. When I collected this information, Justin was 19 and studying at Dartmouth College. He was Bar Mitzvahed when he was 13.
Contextual Data:
- Social Context: I collected this folklore from Justin Kramer, a 19 year old student at Dartmouth College. He is a friend of mine and a member of Hillel, the Jewish community at Dartmouth. I asked him to tell me about Jewish initiation rituals, and he told me about Bar Mitzvahs. Justin learned of Bar Mitzvahs in Jewish middle school as every boy was Bar Mitzvahed. All of his classmates and close friends and family attended. He performed the ritual when he turned 13. They were their to celebrate Justin (Mazel Tov as he said). He said he felt proud and that it was a stepping stone in his life. He said they are normally in the morning and the party is at night.
- Cultural Context: The Jewish culture is centered around a tight knit community. Jews have been persecuted for thousands of years, so naturally they feel more comfortable around other jews. Also, it is very important to Jews that the culture is passed on. Justin said his grandparents really wanted him to be Bar Mitzvahed, and he felt that he made them proud.
Item:
- A Jewish boy can be Bar Mitzvahed when he turns 13. It is a big celebration in which the boy becomes a man. He must study for years to learn all of the prayers required to become a man. First, he must separate himself from his family. Then, he is tested as he must read from the Torah. Then, he is incorporated as a man in the Jewish community. He is celebrated in a big party, and everybody shouts “mazel tov” to congratulate him. During the party, the Bar Mitzvah chooses one girl to dance with as his first dance as a man. Afterwards, the Hava Nagila dance is performed as they are lifted up and down in a chair.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Comments wasn’t General or my bar both. Which was in general are meant to signify a Jew becoming an adult in the eyes of the Jewish religion. So I’ve had my bar mitzvah right around my 13th birthday which is when guys typically have it. Girls can have their apartments far starting at age 12. And my bar mitzvah was in the local Jewish Community Center. Most people have their bar mitzvahs in the mornings with a party in the night. My family isn’t that strictly observant so. Mine started around 5:00p.m. I did a little bit of Torah portion but we also mixed in some other fun things I told some. Fun Jewish stories called out what they’re called. I told some stories and also. Did a couple of little like kind of mythology things and there was mythology themed which was fun. I think the term for a Jewish story by the way is in my. But don’t quote me on that unless it’s correct then you can quote me on that that after immediately after the service people threw a little sun kissed chewy candies at me to congratulate me. Mazel tov and then I had a party immediately after the basement of the big ballroom of the building that I was in who was there. So I went to a Jewish day school kindergarten through eighth grade and so my school had a rule that you had to invite everyone in the grade. So at that point like 33 of us all them were invited. Many of them were there plus had some other friends from sports and some other activities along with all of my extended family that could make it. Some family friends parents some of my some of my closest friends had their parents there as well. I think for me more than anything it was kind of like. A check point in life like I’ve made it through 13 years and I’m becoming a man in the eyes of the Jewish religion. But it was really cool to have so many friends and family there supporting me. And the fact that they felt I guess a really big accomplishment meant a lot to me and being surrounded by. So many people who made such a big effort to get there really meant a lot to me I’d say.
- Justin’s Bar Mitzvah was very important to him. He felt like it was difficult, and he said it was a coming of age event for him. He invited all of his friends and family, and he had a big party afterward.
Collector’s Comments:
- I could tell that Justin really cared about his Bar Mitzvah. It made his family very proud, and he definitely felt like he had grown up following the ceremony.
Collector’s Name: Evan Muscatel
Tags/Keywords:
- Bar Mitzvah
- Initiation Ritual
Comparison:
- Comparison within the subgroup: Justin is from a family of reform Jews; however, the ritual is almost the same across all types of Judaism. The Bar Mitzvah must be 13 in all sects of Judaism, he must read from the torah, and he is celebrated as an adult after. This is common among all jews.
- Comparison with the rest of the subgroups (Written by Katarina Nesic): The subgroups differ dramatically across the board. Some of the subgroups focus on various ethnic groups while others focus on groups within Dartmouth. The initiation rituals of the groups within Dartmouth usually have the purpose of welcoming new members into their community and are symbolic. Ethnic-based group rituals have the purpose of testing the new members. Additionally, ethnic groups’ initiation rituals tend to be related to religious practices. Initiation rituals of Dartmouth groups are not religious in character. What all groups have in common though is the fact that the process of initiation creates closeness with the rest of the group and makes one feel completely immersed into the group.