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Bar Mitzvah & Bah Mitzvah’s Compared to Confirmation Catholic and Judaism are considered opposite religions, yet they share very similar rituals and ceremonies. A Catholic child typically around twelve or thirteen years old goes through their confirmation. This is a ceremony where the young adult promises to follow with the religion and continue to learn about the faith. In the Jewish faith when a girl is twelve and a boy is thirteen they celebrate their Bah Mitzvah if they are a girl or Bar Mitzvah if they are a boy.
This ceremony is also when the young adult promises to follow their religion and stay close to and learn more about their faith. The definition of a Catholic Confirmation is “a rite administered to baptized persons, in some churches as a sacrament for confirming and strengthening the recipient in the Christian faith, in others as a rite without sacramental character by which the recipient is admitted to full communion with the church. “(1). The definition of a Bar Mitzvah is very similar to the definition of a Catholic Confirmation.
The definition of a Bar Mitzvah or a Bah Mitzvah is “a solemn ceremony held in the synagogue, usually on Saturday morning, to admit as an adult member of the Jewish community a Jewish boy 13 years old who has successfully completed a prescribed course of study in Judaism. “(2). Most Confirmations are done through the catholic schools now so a young adult will be confirmed with their class mates, while a Bar Mitzvah or Bah Mitzvah is celebrated normally only one person at a time, but still takes place in front of the synagogue ‘s congregation.
Confirmations are performed during a special confirmation mass where the person being confirmed must have someone known as a sponsor to be there for them. Their sponsor can be any Catholic person who the young person being confirmed looks up to as a Catholic leader in their life. During the ceremony each person being confirmed is called up to take vows about staying committed to the church, and then the priest puts oil on the forehead of the person being confirmed and blesses their hands as a way as re-welcoming them into the church. A Bar Mitzvah or Bah Mitzvah is celebrated in a similar manor to the Catholic Confirmation.
During a Jewish Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah the child that is “becoming of age” reads from the Torah in front of the Sabbath congregation, they say prayers and read other readings. After the ceremony at the synagogue the whole family gathers to congratulate the young adult who just took their own step into the faith of Judaism. At these parties a lot of food is served, the person who just had their Bah/Bar Mitzvah receives their gifts. There is no religious aspect to the after party of the ceremony at the synagogue so anything can take place during the party and it can have a theme to make it more entertaining for the guests.
These two religions have celebrated these ceremonies for centuries and both religions continue to today. Even though the religions beliefs conflict with each other it is no secret that they are very similar in a lot of ways. The Confirmation ceremony and the Bah /Bat Mitzvah ceremonies are a perfect example of this. They are celebrated almost the same but Catholic’s now do confirmation with groups and Jews’ still have individual Bar/Bah Mitzvah’s. Besides that one difference the ceremonies are both pretty much the same.
Both the ceremonies are for the young adult to admit to the congregation that they will continue to follow in the faith. Both ceremonies require readings and prayers performed by the person going through the ceremony. Both religions have a way to symbolize the bond the young adult made, a Jewish person would read from the Torah and a Catholic person have oil put on their fore head. No matter how opposite a religion is , all religions are relatable because they are all based off of one true story and different religions are only different versions of the story.