Life+Ceremonies

What is a “rite of passage”? Wikipedia defines it as, “A ritual that marks a change in a person's social or sexual status. Rites of passages are often ceremonies surrounding events such as childbirth, menarche or other milestones within puberty, coming of age, weddings, and death.” In more simple words, it is a ceremony that changes some ones life forever. Rites of passage are very important. In Judaism we have three important rites of passages, they are, Brit Mila, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and weddings. The first one Brit Mila is when a Jewish boy gets circumcised at eight days old. At 12 or 13 years old there is a second big one, and it is the Bar/Bat Mitzvah. When a boy or girl becomes 13 (12 for a girl) they have to do alias to the torah and have to read from it and become a son or daughter of the commandments. After they read, now it is customary to have a big party that same night. The last important Jewish rite of passage is the wedding. At a Jewish wedding there is something like a little hut called a Huppah; it is a four legged canopy that is held by the four legs. To make the vows official the groom steps on a brown paper bag that contains a glass cup inside. It is also customary to do the wedding where the wife was born. Rights of passages are very, very important in our world. If we did not have these ceremonies in our lives we could not be honored as individuals in our lives. If we don’t have Bar/Bat Mitzvahs we can not become a man in our religion and be able to take on the responsibilities that come with the coming of age. If we did not have weddings how could a man and woman show their love for each other when they want to take the next big step in becoming partners for life how could the do it. This is why we have rites of passages in our world; to be able to show all these things.
 * Life Ceremonies **