Bar/Bat Mitzvah Quiz

Traditionally, being a bar/bat mitzvah meant that one was obligated to fulfill the mitzvot, or commandments. Today, boys and girls may mark this event by leading services, reading from the Torah, or doing community service projects. How much do you know about Bar/Bat Mitzvahs?

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Question 1. Which of these is a bat mitzvah tradition among Chabad-Lubavitch families?
 When a girl turns 12, she reads her maftir and haftarah
 When a girl turns 13, she reads her maftir and haftarah
 When a girl turns 12, she gathers with family and friends to discuss a teaching of the 7th Rebbe of Lubavitch
 When a girl turns 12, matchmakers meet to decide who she will marry

 

Question 2. According to the Mishnah, what is appropriate to begin at the age of 13?
 Bible study.
 Talmud study.
 Observing mitzvot, commandments.
 Going to synagogue.

 

Question 3. When do many traditional Jews mark a child's reaching the age of majority?
 In the summer, when there is good traveling weather for family and friends
 The Shabbat immediately following the child's birthday
 The day of the child’s birthday
 After the child fasts for the first time on Yom Kippur

 

Question 4. Who first enacted Jewish confirmation ceremonies?
 19th-century Reform Jewish leaders.
 The rabbis of the Talmud.
 Women's rights activists.
 The Modern Orthodox movement.

 

Question 5. Which one of these statements is NOT true: The bat/bar mitzvah celebration marks the time when children are
 Obligated to observe the commandments
 No longer counted as part of a minyan
 First allowed to participate in and perform the various rituals associated with full membership in the community
 First allowed to wear tefillin and a tallit

 

Question 6. Which of these things is a bar or bat mitzvah child required to perform?
 Leading the service.
 Reciting the Torah portion.
 Reciting the Torah portion.
 All of the above.
 None of the above.

 

Question 7. The bar mitzvah ceremony dates back to
 The 14th century
 The destruction of the First Temple
 The fifth century
 The Spanish Inquisition

 

Question 8. True or false: Before the Middle Ages, a pre-bar mitzvah boy was permitted to receive an aliyah and to put on tefillin publicly.
 True
 False

 

Question 9. True or false: In Moroccan communities, the emphasis of the bar mitzvah is more about laying tefillin, and less about being called up to the Torah.
 True
 False

 

Question 10. True or false: Converted children are not allowed to read from the Torah.
 True
 False

 

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