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"The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast." (Genesis 21:8, NIV) It is recorded in Genesis that Abraham acknowledged Isaac becoming an adult. This acknowledgment was marked with the understanding that Abraham was no longer responsible for Isaac as a minor and that Isaac, instead, would be responsible for himself. The occasion was marked with a feast.
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In as early as the sixth century C.E., Jewish boys celebrated becoming bar mitzvah with a basic ceremony. There were no rituals included, but a time was set aside to acknowledge the young man who had become bar mitzvah.
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During the Middle Ages, the Bar Mitzvah evolved from a ceremony acknowledging the rite of passage of a young Jewish boy into becoming Bar Mitzvah, to a ceremony that also included rituals such as taking on and maintaining new religious privileges and responsibilities reserved for adults.
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By the 13th and 14th centuries, the rituals accompanying becoming Bar Mitzvah had grown to include the reading of the Torah. This privilege now signified the boy's journey into manhood. "The bar mitzvah boy would chant the blessings, all or part of the Torah portion of the week, and/or the haftarah section from the prophetic books." ("Origins of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah," 2018)
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In the 16th century, families added a celebration in their homes after the ritual of becoming Bar Mitzvah had concluded. Close friends and family would gather to enjoy a feast and debates regarding Bar Mitzvah.
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The 17th century brought the addition of new clothing worn by the boy achieving Bar Mitzvah. In The "History of Bar Mitzvah", H. Schauss explains the Bar Mitzvah would then go door to door dressed in his new clothing to invite his guests to a feast. (Schauss, 2018, p. 1)
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Seeking to find a coming of age ceremony for girls to equal that for the boys, the first Bat Mitzvah was performed by Rabbi Yechezkel Karo in the Ukraine in 1902.
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The first Bat Mitzvah performed in North American took place March 18, 1922 for Judith Eisenstein, the eldest daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan who wished for his daughter to experience the same coming of age rituals and ceremonies as her male counterparts.
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Having survived two world wars, North Americans were enjoying life. A baby boom occurred, new homes were built, new cars were driven, and the Bar Mitzvah began to take on a new appearance. While still limited to close family and friends, a boy achieving Bar Mitzvah would now receive practical gifts with a "typical gift [being] a fountain pen" (Oppenheimer, 2005, p. 1)
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The 1960s brought with it the increased popularity of the Bat Mitzvah. The 1960s also produced an increased level of materialism with North Americans buying into the belief that money, and the items that can be bought with it, would bring happiness.
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In the 1970s, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs became as much of a celebration as a ritual or ceremony. Each Bar or Bat Mitzvah potential still prepares for the reading of the Torah, with the rituals performed in Synagogue. Gone, however, are the feasts prepared and enjoyed only for the close friends and family of the young man or women. Instead, lavish parties have taken the place of the feasts with parents willing to spend upwards of $40,000-$50,000 on food, entertainment, venue, and invitations.
