Bar Mitzvah: Becoming an Adult in One Day

What? A Jewish male who reaches the age of 13 (really 13 and one day) is considered a Bar Mitzvah. This means that he is obligated in all Torah commandments and can even fulfill obligations on behalf of others, such as reading the Torah or blowing the shofar. A girl becomes a Bat Mitzvah at the age of 12. In practice, the first commandment a Bar Mitzvah boy fulfills is the recitation of "Shema Yisrael" in the evening prayer; since night precedes day in Jewish law, and, at the onset of his thirteenth birthday, namely at nightfall, he is obligated to recite "Shema" in the evening prayer.

Nevertheless, it is customary to mark a Bar Mitzvah by putting on tefillin and reading from the Torah the next day – when he fulfills the obligation to read the Torah on behalf of the congregation. It is also customary to hold a festive meal and recite words of Torah related to fulfilling the commandments.

Why? In Pirkei Avot it states: "At thirteen, one is obligated in mitzvot." While there is no source for this in the Torah itself, it is a law given to Moshe at Sinai. As the Talmud states: "Measurements are laws given to Moshe at Sinai," and just as the entire system of measurements, numbers, and weights was given to Moshe at Sinai without their source appearing in the Torah, so too this principle, "at thirteen, one is obligated in mitzvot," is one of those principles given to Moshe at Sinai.

It should be noted that this concept is also supported by a reference from the Torah: Regarding Shimon and Levi, who attacked the people of Shechem after their sister Dinah was violated, it says: "Shimon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword." Levi was exactly thirteen years old at the time, and he is the youngest person in the Torah to be given the title "man.” By the same token, we find that it is specifically one who has been designated as a "man” who is obligated in mitzvot, as it is stated (Bamidbar 5:5): "When a man or woman commits any sin..."

The Sages found an additional hint in the book of Yeshayahu (43:21): "This people I formed for Myself, they shall tell My praise." "This" ("zo") in gematria equals 13, which indicates that one is only obligated to tell the praises of the Creator after he reaches 13.

Something to think about. After the Bar Mitzvah boy reads from the Torah for the first time, his father recites the blessing: "Blessed is He who has released me from punishment for this one." This blessing indicates that as long as his son was under 13, he was considered a “minor” in halacha and was not obligated in mitzvot. Instead, his father bore full responsibility for his actions in conjunction with his obligation to educate his young son. Now that his son has reached 13 though, responsibility transfers to the son, and the father is no longer liable for his son’s actions.

Beyond this, the blessing carries an additional meaning as well. As long as the son was under 13, he was connected to his father's actions, and his father’s sins also had an impact on him. If a son was punished because of his father's actions, the grievance reverts to his father, who, through his behavior, caused the son to be punished. From now on, the son no longer bears responsibility for his father's sins, and there will be no reason to punish the father for this; therefore, he recites the blessing "Blessed is He who has released me from punishment for this one."

As an aside, Rabbi Moshe Sofer, author of the Chatam Sofer, notes that a non-Jew's obligation to observe the Noahide laws is biblically binding from the moment of birth, and the institution of “Bar Mitzvah” (assuming responsibility at age 13) does not apply to him.