What to write on a bar mitzvah card?

Jewish people can you tell me what your bar mitzvah was like?

• I'm trying to write a story and it has a bar mitzvah in it but I'm not sure what happens help!?

• Answer:

  FIrstly -- writing teachers recomend to always "write what you know" and I would respectfully request that you don't write too much in the way of Jewish color unless it is part of your personal experience. I always cringe at mistakes writers make when they attempt Jewish color ...and am left reading the book with trepidation lest they wind up repeating some stereotype they don't even realise to be one. That being said - "Bar mizvah" (literaly "son of obligations") is the term for a Jew who has reached the age of legal maturity under Jewish law. There is no required ritual or commemoration. The first acknowledgement of Bar Mizvah that came into being was, on the public Torah reading after he reached the age, the boy would be called up for Alyah. What is Aliyah? -- it means "going up" -- The public reading of the Torah is split into 7 or more sections. For each aliyah, a man is called up. He stands with the reader and says an opening prayer, then the reader reads the section, then the person reads the closing prayer. Anyhow -- in many communities, this is the one ritual part, and then the family have a party. If you are in Jerusalem, then there is a custom to lead the boy to the Wailing Wall plaza, dancing, with drums and horns (unless his first Aliyah is on Shabbat -- this is not apropriate for Shabbat) and the ritual takes place there. In America, most kids do substantialy more "ritual" -- at the biggest - a boy leads the whole Sabbath morning prayer service and reads from the Torah and the Prophets. the next lower level (this is done by the vast majority of traditionaly religiously educated boys) -- the boy reads the Torah and Prophets on the Sabbath morning service. the thid lower level (and many boys who don't otherwise have a Jewish education try to do this) -- the boy reads the section of Prophets on the Sabbath morning service. ALso - in many communities, the boy is expected to prepare and deliver a Drasha (preaching) to his community on the Sabbath morning. == The second component is the celebration. Usualy, there is some celebration for the whole community. This is normaly done at the synagogue "social hall" after either the Sabbath morning or Sabbath afternoon service. Then, the private celebration -- this varies very very greatly -- Some people do a massive party -- almost like a wedding. Others do something fun for the kids -- one party that my son went to was a massive Lazer Tag game in the park with Pizza.