- Circumcision: Symbolizing the covenant between G-d and the Jewish people. Nothing welcomes a boy into the Jewish people like a bris (the ritual circumcision ceremony).
- Bar/Bat Mitzvah: The coming of age ceremony at age 13 for boys and sometimes age 12 for girls, where the young Jew takes on the responsibilities of being a Jewish adult.
- Baby Naming: Fortunately, we have no female circumcision in Judaism, but we don’t want to leave the girls out. The baby naming brings the Jewish soul into the girl.
- Pidyon haBen: When the first born son of an Israelite woman is 30 days old, this is a special ceremony that redeems him.
- First Mikvah: A spiritual cleansing by immersing oneself in a ritual bath.
- Wedding: This ceremony transitions a person from one stage of life to the next.
- Children: Nothing makes a person mature faster than having to take care of a child.
- Upsherin (First Haircut): Traditionally, a boy gets his first haircut after turning three years old.
- Confirmation/Graduating Hebrew School: There are various ceremonies in some denominations when a person has finished additional Jewish education.
- Second Bar/Bat Mitzvah: Jewish tradition says that your life starts over again at the age of 70. Therefore when a person reaches the age of 83, there is a second bar/bat mitzvah.
Learn more about the Jewish rites of passage in this popular book.
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