A guide for visitors

B'nei mitzvah (plural of bar/mitzvah)
Barmitzvah means ‘son of the commandment’ and a Jewish boy becomes one when he turns 13. The ceremony that accompanies the transition dates from around 600 years ago, becoming more elaborate over recent years. It has become traditional for the ceremony to take place during the Shabbat (Sabbath – ie Saturday) morning service though this isn’t essential.
Batmitzvah means ‘daughter of the commandment’ and a Jewish girl according to early sources becomes one when she turns 12 (but in Reform synagogues, 13 like the boys) . Traditionally girls didn’t have a ceremony at all and the first one dates from the early 1920s. At FRS, girls and boys are considered equal and so both have the same ceremonies, while in Orthodox synagogues girls tend to have smaller ceremonies if at all, and often outside the Shabbat morning service.

Bar/batmitzvahs at FRS
FRS is part of the Reform Movement and the ceremony and traditions vary even between other Reform synagogues. Reform services are most obviously distinguishable from Orthodox ones by the fact that men and women sit together and contribute equally to the service, which is in English and Hebrew. There are many other differences in the structure of the services as well.

The central part of the bar/batmitzvah ceremony is the calling up of the bar/batmitzvah to the Bimah (stage) by his/her Hebrew name and reads the weekly portion of the Torah (the Five Books of Moses)and usually the weekly Haftarah (the part of the Hebrew Bible relating to the Prophets) portion too. The Torah section of the portion read by the Bat Mitzvah is divided into 3 passages and there are blessings repeated before and after each passage.

At FRS, the bar/batmitzvah also reads the ten commandments and leads certain other prayers, and he/she has also led the Friday night service the previous evening. The readings and blessings may be sung or spoken, and in Hebrew or English.
Various members of the congregation or family and friends connected in some way to the bar/batmitzvah may be involved in different parts of the ceremony as well.

At FRS it has become a recent tradition for the bar/batmitzvah’s contemporaries to stamp their feet in support as he/she is called to the bimah rather than clapping or cheering. At the end of the service there is a kiddush (sanctification; a blessing over wine to sanctify the Shabbat) and help with stacking chairs/moving tables may be required. Please do not eat or drink anything until after the blessings.

Children attend religion school classes from the age of four but the process of studying to become a bar/batmitzvah specifically occurs over two years of classes, learning about what it means and looking at various social issues. Each student receives strong support from the rest of the year-group as they approach their ‘big day’. At FRS there is also a ‘helper’ system by which the bar/batmitzvah stays on to help younger students in following years. During their preparation the students look at their family tree and choose a role model from history, and you may see the results of this part of their studies at the back of the synagogue hall or in the lobby.

Further information can be obtained from the FRS Office during office hours on 020 8446 3244 or from the warden at the end of the service.