bat mitzvah

views updated May 23 2018

bat mitz·vah / bät ˈmitsvə/ • n. a religious initiation ceremony for a Jewish girl aged twelve years and one day, regarded as the age of religious maturity. ∎  the girl undergoing such a ceremony.

Bat mitzvah

views updated May 18 2018

Bat mitzvah (Heb., ‘daughter of the commandment’). The status for a girl of attaining religious adulthood (cf. BAR MITZVAH for a boy). No ceremonies are laid down in the law, but a liturgy is contained in the Reform New Union Prayer Book (1975); the ceremonies are more elaborate in Progressive Judaism.

bat mitzvah

views updated May 29 2018

bat mitzvah in Judaism, a religious initiation ceremony for a Jewish girl aged twelve years and one day, regarded as the age of religious maturity. The word comes from Hebrew baṯ miṣwāh ‘daughter of commandment’, suggested by bar of Chancery.