Tefillin
- Two boxes
- One worn on the arm and one on the head
- Black and kosher leather
- The one on the arm is wound 7 times around the arm and held in the hand.
- The tefillin are worn on weekday mornings everyday missing out Shabbat and any other special occasions.
- The one on the head represents serving God with the mind and the one on the non-writing arm is placed close to the heart so that it symbolises serving god with the heart.
Promises
- To follow the Jewish laws and look after his own religious education
- Be responsible for his own sins
- He can make up the minyan which is the right number of people needed for a public service.
- He needs to learn to keep to the rules of the Tallit and Tefillin.
Ceremony
- Takes place on the Shabbat after the boy is 13 and one day
- Public are present
- Friends and family are also invited
- Called up to the bimah meaning platform in the middle of the synagogue.
- He uses a pointer known as a yad to avoid touching the scriptures
- At the start he says a prayer saying that he will keep to the commandments
- He says prayers in between the passages
- The father of the boy says, “Blessed is the one who has released me from responsibility for this child”.
- The rabbi then gives him advice on being an adult Jew and blesses the child.
Bat mitzvah and orthodox and reformed Jews
Orthodox
- Takes place on a Sunday with a group of girls. They read a passage from the Jewish Bible and give a speech on being a Jewish adult.
- Orthodox and reformed have different rules and traditions as well as the kosher food laws.
- Takes place when the girl is 12
- They learn about Jewish traditions and history and things in the home.
- They sit separate from the men.
- The woman does all the Pesach spring cleaning of leaven and other religious duties in the home.
- They are not allowed to read from the Bimah.
- They are not allowed to wear the tallit and tefillin.
Reformed
- You can become a rabbi if you are a man or woman
- Men and women can sit together
- Both men and women can come up to read on the bimah
- All the responsibilities in the home can be shared, but it is the woman who lights the candle on Shabbat.
- They may wear the tallit and tefillin if they wish, but they do not need to as in Judaism, women are classed as more holy than the men and do not need the reminders.
- Some reformed Jews may have a Bat Mitzvah like a Bar Mitzvah, but the celebration tends to be on a smaller scale.
The fat question – Women’s place in the home rather than the synagogue. OK or not to say that women are more holy than men and they are all equal.
The woman is suited in the home because as women are considered to be more holy than the men, they do not need to spend time in the synagogue and it would be more useful for them to look after the Kosher food laws and traditions. They need to look after the children’s education and the food laws in the home and the men need to go to the synagogue and pray and follow the religion and as women are considered to be more self-disciplined they are better off in the home.
