| The Bat Mitzvah is the celebration of a girl | | | | The Bat Mitzvah hasn't been around for as long |
| becoming a woman. This is usually set on or near | | | | as the Bar Mitzvah has been for boys. It may |
| her thirteenth birthday as it is for the boys, | | | | have begun in the area around France and Italy |
| although the Bat Mitzvah is also held by some on | | | | about 200 hundred years ago, after the period |
| the young girls twelfth birthday because girls tend | | | | when Bar Mitzvahs became popular for boys. |
| to mature faster than boys. After she turns | | | | Originally there was simply a special dinner for the |
| thirteen she is expected to be morally responsible | | | | girl on her twelfth birthday. |
| for her actions as a young adult. It's kind of like | | | | The Bat Mitzvah is also a symbol of the struggle |
| the spiritual 'age of reason' for Jewish children. | | | | that Jewish women went through during the early |
| Before the girl turns thirteen she may be taught | | | | 1900's to gain a greater voice in the Jewish |
| about the synagogue and torah and will be | | | | synagogue. By 1922, the first Bat Mitzvah was |
| encouraged to follow the Ten Commandments, | | | | held for a young woman in North America. This |
| but when she reaches that age she will be | | | | was a great achievement, however it wasn't until |
| expected to follow the tenants set forth by the | | | | the late 1950's that girls began regularly becoming |
| Ten Commandments. Bat Mitzvah means | | | | Bat Mitzvah inside the synagogue. |
| 'daughter of the commandment.' | | | | |