Pronounced: baht MITZ-vuh, also bahs MITZ-vuh and baht meetz-VAH, Origin: Hebrew, Jewish rite of passage for a girl, observed at age 12 or 13.
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From kibbitz/kibbutz to mitzvah/mikveh, we round up some easily confused Hebrew and Yiddish terms.
Orthodox Judaism Grapples with Bat Mitzvah
As girls have become the educational equals of boys in Orthodox Judaism, rabbis need to explore halakhah to create a normative bat mitzvah ceremony.