Adult bar and bat mitzvah


An adult bar/bat mitzvah is a bar or bat mitzvah of a person older than the customary age. Traditionally, a bar or bat mitzvah occurs at age 13 for boys and 12 for girls. However, many adult Jews who have never had a bar or bat mitzvah choose to have one later in life, and many who have had one at the traditional age choose to have a second. An adult bar or bat mitzvah can be held at any age after adulthood is reached and can be performed in a variety of ways.
The adult bar/bat mitzvah, which can be held at any age, differs from the child's bar/bat mitzvah in that it is usually planned by the person themselves instead of their parents. Due to it taking place at an advanced stage of life, many relatives who are often present at a child's bar/bat mitzvah are deceased, and the person is often married and/or has children and sometimes grandchildren. Many men have second bar mitzvahs at the age of 83, representing 70 years since their first.

Reasons

There are many reasons adult Jews choose to have a bar or bat mitzvah:
Rabbi Albert Axelrad of Brandeis University officiated the first adult bar and bat mitzvahs in the early 1970s. He encouraged the practice in all denominations of Judaism.
Between 1995 and 2001, Hadassah held group adult Bat Mitzvah ceremonies for 180 women.
In 2001, the Union for Reform Judaism created a guide on adult bar and bat mitzvah programs which was adopted by 900 congregations. In 2002, the Conservative Movement adopted this guide as well.

Process

The process of becoming an bar or bat mitzvah for adults involves studying for a year or longer. It consists of Hebrew language, Jewish rituals, Torah readings, and Haftorah readings. Many synagogues provide classes for adults.

Notable adult bar and bat mitzvahs

In popular culture, there have been depictions of adult bar mitzvahs on TV shows: