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       rites of passage

 
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Bar Mitzvah
      
Vienna, Austria    
Summer 1931 

All but one in the above photo, Josef Zipper (second man with white hat and moustache), remain unidentified. If you can identify anyone else in the photo, or can tell in what synagogue in Vienna this event took place, please contact the Museum at postmaster@museumoffamilyhistory.com.

The Bar Mitzvah Ceremony
 

Calling someone to say the Torah blessings during a service is called an Aliyah from the Hebrew: עֲלִיָּה, from the verb la'alot, לעלות, meaning, "to rise, to ascend; to go up." The widespread practice is that on Shabbat on or after his 13th birthday, a boy may recite the blessings for the Torah reading, and may also read the week's portion from the Torah (five books of Moses) and Haftorah (selections from the books of the Prophets), and/or give a d'var Torah, which may include a discussion of that week's Torah portion. He may also lead part or all of the morning prayer services. Precisely what the Bar Mitzvah should lead during the service varies from one congregation to another, and is not fixed by Jewish law. Sometimes the celebration is during another service that includes reading from the Torah, such as a Monday or Thursday morning service, a Shabbat afternoon service, or a morning service on Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon.
 

Once a person is Bar or Bat Mitzvah, they have the responsibilities of an adult Jew under Jewish law. These things include:
  • They are morally responsible for their own actions.
  • They are eligible to be called to read from the Torah, and to participate in a Minyan (In Orthodox denominations, only males read from the Torah or participate in a Minyan).
  • They can own what they possess as personal property.
  • They are old enough to be legally married according to Jewish law.
  • They must follow the six hundred and thirteen laws of the Torah.

Bar mitzvahs


William
Weisbart,
New York,
1904

Max Fuchs,
Brooklyn,
New York
1929

Sandor Hecht.
Balassagyarmat,
Hungary
1938

Gerhard Schreiber,
Czernowitz,
Ukraine
1941

Chiel Mendel
Melman,
Paris, France
1942

Shiku Smilovic,
Munkács,
Hungary
1945

Bar Mitzvah Ceremony,
Vienna, Austria
1931

A Bar Mitzvah in
Opatów, Poland,
1920s-30s

Text adapted from Wikipedia.


 


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