Q & A: Birthday and Bar Mitzvah (Part II)

Question: Seemingly the only place in our Torah where the matter of a birthday celebration is mentioned is regarding the birthday of Pharaoh. The only birthday celebration that we as Jews celebrate is a bar mitzvah – a young man’s 13^th birthday. Is there greater significance to that day more than to any other?

Yitzchak Gutman Via E-mail

Synopsis: Last week we cited some Biblical sources for the significance of a boy maturing at age thirteen. We noted as well that the obligation to obey and perform the mitzvot begins at that time, and that calling the young man up to the Torah is a means of acknowledging his new status. We also found a source (Kiddushin 31a, Bava Kama 87a) for tendering the bar mitzvah seudah. We noted some of the significant changes in his relationship with others; most importantly, the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 63) notes that upon the young man’s coming of age, the father is freed of responsibility for any sinful act committed by his son and thus recites the blessing “Boruch she’patrani me’onsho shel zeh” – Blessed [is He] who has absolved me of the sins of this one.

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First, Keriat HaTorah may only take place in the presence of ten adult Jewish males because it is a davar she’b’kedusha, a matter of sanctity. The Gemara (Berachot 21b and Megillah 23b) derives from Scripture – through a gezeira shava, lit. a comparison of similar wording in two verses – that this may only be done in the presence of ten such men.

Second, according to the Mechaber and Rema (Orach Chayyim 282:2), the seven people we are required to call up to the Torah on the Sabbath do not necessarily have to be only from the ten or more adult males present. An aliyah can also be given to a woman or to a minor male. (However, the Sages of the Talmud precluded allowing a woman to be called to the Torah due to issues of modesty.)

Thus, though we require, in theory, the presence of a minimum of ten adult males for the reading of the Torah, we may nevertheless also call up to the Torah those who are otherwise ineligible to create the required quorum. This is indeed a unique situation, perhaps even an anomaly, but one that would, according to the strict letter of the law, be sanctioned by our Sages.

However, as stated by both the Aruch HaShulchan and the Mishna Berurah (Orach Chayyim 282), later authorities (Acharonim) ruled that our custom today is not to give one of the required seven aliyot to a katan (minor) – with the exception of the maftir that follows and also the haftara reading.

We now deal with yet another problem: The bar mitzvah boy is very often called up to the Torah the Shabbos before the week that his actual birthday occurs. Some do it in that manner, while others wait for the Shabbos that follows his bar mitzvah – his actual birthday. This creates difficulty when the young man will be reading the maftir of Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, or the Four Parshiyot, since these are chovat hatzibbur – a communal requirement. This is especially so for Parshat Zachor and, according to some, Parshat Para as well, whose readings are d’Orayta (Biblically mandated).

Lest you think that there should be no problem with the soon-to-be-bar mitzvah boy reading in either event, since as we mentioned above, from the strict letter of the law he can be called upon to read the maftir, read on.

Rabbi Eliezer Yehudah Waldenberg, zt”l, in a long teshuva (Responsa Tzitz Eliezer Vol. 7:1) discusses this matter at length and notes that there are authorities on both sides – some would allow the young man to read the maftir on the Shabbos before his bar mitzvah, while others would not. Yet he concludes that in a place where it is the custom not to normally call up a pre-bar mitzvah to read, it would be all right based on the lenient opinions to call him up to maftir on the Shabbos before his actual birthday. Yet he advises perhaps not to do so for Maftir Zachor or Maftir Parah. Insofar as the other maftir readings, he advises that while the bar mitzvah boy recites the blessing, the ba’al keriah – the adult who does the Torah reading – should read the maftir on such weeks as well.

As we see, this almost uniquely Jewish celebrated birthday is as different from the universal birthday party as apples are from oranges. It is a truly sanctified occasion and one that should be celebrated with appreciation of its holy status.