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. True or false: The rabbis of the Middle Ages enacted laws to limit spending on bar mitzvah festivities.
 True
 False

 

Question 2. In some synagogues, normally after the completion of 10th grade religious school, what ceremony do teenagers participate in?
 A visit to the mikveh
 A Bar Mitzvah
 A Bat Mitzvah
 A Confirmation

 

Question 3. What is the traditional blessing for a father to recite at his son's bar mitzvah?
 "Blessed is He who has now freed me from the responsibility of this boy."
 "Blessed is He who has created this sacred occasion."
 "Blessed is the Creator of the fruit of the vine."
 "Blessed is the boy who turned 13."

 

Question 4. True or false: Converted children are not allowed to read from the Torah.
 True
 False

 

Question 5. True or false: Humanistic Judaism has its own bar and bat mitzvah rituals.
 True
 False

 

Question 6. What is the only ritual given in the Talmud pertaining to a bar mitzvah?
 Reading from the Torah.
 Putting on tefillin.
 The father reciting a blessing.
 Immersion in a ritual bath.
 None of the above.

 

Question 7. Which of these is a pre-bar/bat mitzvah child allowed to do?
 Lead Anim Z'mirot
 Be counted to a minyan
 Read from the Torah
 Wear tefillin

 

Question 8. The bar mitzvah ceremony dates back to
 The 14th century
 The destruction of the First Temple
 The fifth century
 The Spanish Inquisition

 

Question 9. Who had the first bat mitzvah in the United States?
 Judith Hauptman
 Judith Butler
 Judith Kaplan
 Judith Plaskow

 

Question 10. The first bat mitzvah in the United States took place in
 1945
 1864
 1776
 1922

 

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