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The
celebration of this religious rite has been a custom since the Middle Ages. During this
era, a young Jewish man reached majority at the age of twenty. This is when he was
considered to be responsible for his own financial and military obligations. The only
change in his status as he passed from childhood through adolescence was at the age of
thirteen. This is when his father no longer was considered responsible for his religious
conduct or education. This was accomplished with the pronouncement of a simple
benediction. A Jewish girl is
traditionally considered to have reached her religious majority at the age of twelve years
and one day. Despite her earlier maturity, it is only in recent years with the growth of
Jewish egalitarianism that the Bat Mitzvah as a religious ceremony has become popular. In
the past, a small family dinner was held to honor the girl's twelfth birthday, and her
parents would simply recite a traditional blessing freeing them from the responsibility of
her religious conduct. Today, an increasing number of Jewish congregations have embraced
the idea of offering to thirteen-year old girls the same privileges and responsibilities
at her Bat Mitzvah that a boy receives at his Bar Mitzvah.
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