Evolution of the Bar Mitzvah
Orthodox Perspective by Rivka C. Berman

Back at the beginning of Jewish history, when Jews were already celebrating the holidays we would recognize: Shabbat, Rosh Hashannah and Sukkot, they were not having bar mitzvah parties.

c. 350 B.C.E. – 70 C.E.
Here’s how the bar/bat mitzvah tradition began… During the second Temple period, boys who completed their first Yom Kippur fast were blessed by the elders of the Jewish people.

c. 200 C.E.
The Mishna, the nucleus of halacha, is written down around this time. In Mishna Avot 5:22, thirteen is the year set aside as the time of when one is obligated to perform mitzvot. During this period, a boy who reached thirteen was granted several legal rights. He could be a member of a Jewish court, could buy and sell real estate, and his vows were considered binding.

c. 200-500 C.E.
As the Gemara (Talmud) was being compiled, the phrase “bar mitzvah” was used just twice. And it didn’t refer to a coming of age celebration, because in this era boys could be called up to the Torah even as minors (Megilla 23a). In the Gemara’s context, “bar mitzvah” meant someone who observes the commandments. Thirteen was significant as the “bar onshin” the age a boy was held accountable for civil wrongdoing.

In the discussions of the Gemara, a girl was considered a ketana, a minor, from ages 3-12. Between 12 and 12 ½ a girl became a ne’ara, a young woman, and any vow she made from then on was valid. From 12 ½ onward a girl was termed a bogeret, and was responsible to perform the mitzvot. (Sota 47a, Sanhedrin 107a)

c. 1100 C.E.
Aliyah, being called up to the Torah, which is now regarded as one of the basic privileges of reaching bar mitzvah age, was not always associated with turning thirteen. A boy could be given an aliyah once he understood the significance of what he was doing, according to Maimonides, a twelfth century Torah commentator and preeminent halachic authority.

Among Syrian Jews there is no set age for a first aliyah, but it is expected to take place before a boy reaches thirteen years and one day, but most Syrian Jews do not receive an aliyah until they are at least twelve years and six months old.

c. 1200 C.E.
Until this time, a minor could wear tefillin as soon as he could be trusted to treat them respectfully. (Tefillin are leather boxes that contain parchment scrolls inscribed with Torah passages. During most morning prayer services, one is bound to the forehead and another to the upper arm.) In what is now known as Germany, the rules changed and a boy had to reach thirteen before wearing tefillin.

c. 1300-1500 C.E.
Bar Mitzvah eases itself into its modern definition during these centuries. Young boys are no longer counted as part of the minyan or called up to the Torah. A thirteenth birthday meant beginning to participate in these rituals, and the day became a cause for celebration. To demonstrate their new maturity, boys began delivering speeches about the Torah portion. (The dreaded “speech” is born.)

c. 1600-1700 C.E.
Boys are granted an additional perk. Once they hit bar mitzvah age, they may lead prayer services.

In Spain and Portugal where the Inquisition lead to the outward conversion of many Jews to Catholicism, it became traditional to tell children about their secret Jewish heritage once they reached the age of bar or bat mitzvah.