Elana and Robin welcome their colleague and friend, Lisa Litman, who in addition to being the Director of jkidphilly, is also a b’nai mitzvah tutor and has worked in Jewish education for many years. They talk about what the difference is between a bar or bat mitzvah and a b’nai mitzvah, what practices are part of it, and other little-known details about this Jewish coming-of-age ritual.

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Show Notes:

  • Vocabulary
    • Here are some words mentioned during this episode and their definitions:
      • Aramaic: a Semitic language, a Syrian dialect of which was used as a lingua franca in the Near East from the 6th century BC. It gradually replaced Hebrew as the language of the Jewish people in those areas and was itself supplanted by Arabic in the 7th century AD.
      • B’nai mitzvah: The plural of “bar mitzvah” is “b’nai mitzvah.” In our times, “b’nai mitzvah” can mean a ceremony for two or more people, the ceremony for someone who identifies as non-binary or gender-fluid/neutral, or as the generic term for both bar and bat mitzvah.
      • Drash: Sermon, interpretation of text.
      • Haftarah: a short reading from The Prophets, which follows the reading from the Torah on Sabbaths and festivals, and relates either to the theme of the Torah reading or to the observances of the day.
      • Minyan: a quorum of ten men (or in some synagogues, men and women) over the age of 13 required for traditional Jewish public worship.
      • Mitzvah: a precept or commandment; a good deed done from religious duty.
      • The Prophets: narratives that explain the history of Israel from the perspective of Israel’s fulfillment of God’s covenant.
      • Simchat mitzvah: The joy of doing the mitzvah.
      • Simchat Torah: a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle.
      • Tallit: A tallit is a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl. 
  • Further Reading

Transcript:

Elana
Hey, Robin. 

Robin
Hey, Elana. Are you ready for this episode? It’s another one of those simple questions that’s actually huge. 

Elana
Sensing a bit of a pattern here.

Robin
Yeah, you mean the one where I think it’s a pretty easy question and you come in and tell me it’s way more complex? 

Elana
Yeah. That sounds about right. 

Robin
Okay. Yeah. Well. 

Elana
So let’s introduce ourselves and we can get right into it. 

Robin
Okay. I’m Robin Matthews, Jewish Learning Venture’s graphic designer and the director of PJ Our Way Engagement and jkidpride. 

Elana
And I’m Jewish Learning Venture’s CEO Elana Rivel, and we are the hosts of More Than 4, a blogcast that answers some of the questions people have about Judaism. And today, we are answering the question, what is a B’nai Mitzvah? 

Robin
Don’t you mean a bar mitzvah? 

Elana
No. 

Robin
Are you sure? 

Elana
I am. That’s just one of the ways we name this ritual. 

Robin
There’s more than one way to say, “bar mitzvah?” 

Elana
More than four, actually. 

Robin
Ohhhhhhhh.

So, today, we are answering the question, “what is a B’nai Mitzvah?” We have our own resident expert, director of jkidphilly, Lisa Litman.

Elana
Lisa, tell our listeners what makes you an expert on this subject. 

Robin
Yes, and then tell us why we keep calling it a b’nai mitzvah. 

Lisa
Oh, I’ll do all of those things. 

Rob