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GCSE Religious Studies · key term
‘Daughter of the commandments’: the status of a Jewish girl who becomes responsible for observing Jewish religious law, traditionally at 12, also used for the ceremony celebrating this.
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Paper 1
Revise: Life Cycle RitualsBar Mitzvah means ‘son of the commandments’, and Bat Mitzvah means ‘daughter of the commandments’. Traditionally, a boy reaches this religious status at 13 and a girl at 12. This is religious adulthood, not legal adulthood: the young person becomes personally responsible for following Jewish law and its mitzvot, or commandments.
Paper 3
Literally ‘daughter of the commandment’: the status of a Jewish girl who reaches religious responsibility, traditionally at 12 in Orthodox Judaism and at 13 in British Reform Judaism, and the celebration marking this change.
Distinguish religious adulthood from legal adulthood. Bar and Bat Mitzvah concern responsibility for Jewish commandments.
Avoid saying that Orthodox girls never celebrate becoming Bat Mitzvah. Ceremonies vary, and Bat Chayil is one Orthodox form of celebration.
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In Orthodox Judaism, a girl becomes Bat Mitzvah, ‘daughter of the commandment’, at 12. She becomes responsible for the commandments that apply to her, whether or not she has a celebration.