CAVEAT: I am not a rabbi and I don’t play one on tv.
Recently, talking with a long-time (I don’t say”old” — that’s not “PC") friend, the talk tuned to confusion about opting out of being Jewish.
And, as usually happens, that topic led to others, including “What constitutes a bar (or bat) mitzvah.
SINCE I AM NOT a rabbi, I went to the search engines to look for rabbinical answers to my questions.
The answers to the “opt out” question are all from Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbis. I seriously doubt a Sefardi or Mizrachi hakham (learned rabbi) would respond any differently (other than pronunciation, e.g., koton vs. katan).
Rabbi Dovid Heber, Star-K Kosher Certification
- Someone who converts before Bar or Bas Mitzva is known as a ger koton. Such a person can opt out at the time of his or her Bar Mitzva. If the person is aware that he or she is a Ger Koton and does not opt out at the time of the Bar or Bas Mitzvah, they can no longer opt out.
A child born to a Jewish mother or a person who converts as an adult cannot "opt out."
Rabbi Eliezer Zalmanov, Chabad.org
- Someone that converted as a child can in theory "opt out" when they turn bar or bat mitzvah (12 years old for a girl and 13 for a boy). Once that age passes, there is no "turning back" so to
speak.
- Only an adopted non-Jewish baby is given the option of regretting his conversion when he becomes Bar/Bat Mitzvah and old enough to decide for himself. Anyone who was born Jewish has that status for life.
Did Abram/Abraham have a bar mitzvah? Did Moses Rabbeinu? Pinchas or Caleb ben Nun?
In a word, “No.”
According to Jewish law, when a Jewish boy is 13 years old, he becomes accountable for his actions and becomes a bar mitzvah. A girl becomes a bat mitzvah at the age of 12 according to Orthodox and Conservative Jews, and at the age of 13 according to Reform Jews. After this age, the boys and girls bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics, and are able to participate in all areas of Jewish community life.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_and_bat_mitzvah
The bar mitzvah is automatic, whether or not a celebration or special ceremony is held.
(O)ne is a full-fledged member of the Jewish community, able to participate in all aspects of its religious expression and existence, even if one has never had a bar/bat mitzvah celebration. All that is necessary is that one be 12 years old if a female and 13 if a male.
Source: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/what-does-bar-mitzvah-mean/
A Jewish boy automatically becomes a bar mitzvah upon reaching the age of 13 years, and a girl upon reaching the age of 12 years. No ceremony is needed to confer these rights and obligations. The popular bar mitzvah ceremony is not required, and does not fulfill any commandment. It is certainly not, as one episode of the Simpsons would have you believe, necessary to have a bar mitzvah in order to be considered a Jew! The bar or bat mitzvah is a relatively modern innovation, not mentioned in the Talmud, and the elaborate ceremonies and receptions that are commonplace today were unheard of as recently as a century ago.
Source: http://www.jewfaq.org/barmitz.htm
A Jewish boy automatically becomes Bar Mitzvah when he turns 13 years old, and a girl at age 12.
Source: https://www.aish.com/jl/l/bm/ABCs_of_Bar_Mitzvah.html
ALL THAT NOT WITHSTANDING, originally, the determination of a bar or bat mitzvah was made based on the presence of a pubic hair. Obviously the fixed age, and one day, is less embarrassing for all concerned. Besides, tutors need the money.
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
