One of the main differences among the three (oh all right four) branches of modern Judaism in America has to do with the observance of the coming of age of our youth.  The major difference between the movements has historically been not so much whether congregations recognized the Bat Mitzvah along with the Bar Mitzvah, but whether they observed any special ritual at the age of twelve or thirteen at all.

When German Jews started to settle in the United States in the early to mid 1800s, they brought with them the customs of the Reform movement.  That German movement was quite a bit different than what we’ve seen it evolve into in the past few decades.  But essentially, the German Reformers promoted making the ritual observances of Judaism to be as close to those of the Catholic and Protestant churches as possible.  So along with introducing organ music, mixed voice choirs, and eloquent sermons delivered in High German, they also totally squelched the ritual of Bar Mitzvah.

Of course, the Bar Mitzvah ceremony had only developed in the late Middle Ages anyway, and in more recent times usually consisted only of the young lad chanting the Torah blessings, perhaps delivering a short derash, celebrated with a glass of schnapps and then, since it was invariably a Monday or a Thursday, off to work or school. 

The German Reformers simply adopted the Catholic/Protestant ritual of Confirmation which, at least to the Catholics, was a full-belted sacrament, along with baptism, marriage and ordination.   This Christian sacrament was based on the belief that in the days following the crucifixion on Jesus, the followers of that teacher were suddenly and divinely inspired and invested with a special mission or charge.  They celebrated this inspiration as the festival of Pentecost, which means 50 (as in days since Easter – are you getting the picture yet?!)

Back to the Jewish perspective.  Shavuot had always biblically been understood as merely the conclusion of the barley harvest, 49 days or seven weeks since Passover.  Unlike the Passover, and also like the Christian tradition, there was no historical event closely related to Shavuot.  It was merely a harvest festival.  Period.

So now we have the German Reformers trying to make Judaism more palatable to their Christian neighbors, less foreign, less Eastern European, but needing to base their evolution on solid Jewish principles.  Well…traditional Judaism for centuries had borrowed (yes -- borrowed!) the idea from the Christians, to turn the 50th day after Passover/Easter into a festival of historical proportions, that is, not merely a harvest festival, but a remembrance of the giving of the Torah.

Voilà!  The German Reformers had their youth commemoration festival – Confirmation.  Very closely related to the Christian custom of observing the divine inspiration to teach and to learn, the Jewish ritual of Confirmation became closely connected with the festival of Shavuot.  If we are celebrating the Giving of the Torah, why not also observe a ritual celebrating the passage of youth into adulthood at the same time?

Of course, the Conservative movement refused to observe this new-fangled invention, and stubbornly resisted it.  Then along came the Reconstructionist movement and blew everyone out of the water.  They did not observe Confirmation as their liberal Reform brethren did, but went one step further – they instituted the ritual of BAT Mitzvah for girls.  Yes, you heard me correctly!  The BAT Mitzvah ceremony was an invention of the Reconstructionist movement.  Indeed, I had the great honor of having met the first woman in Jewish history (Judith by name) to have celebrated a Bat Mitzvah.  I guess being the daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, the founder of the movement, gave her unprecedented options.

So there you have it.  Shavuot.  Confirmation.  Growth.  Renewal.  Spring.

B’shalom,

Rabbi Mark R. Newton