Bar Mitzvah Parties
B'nai Mitzvah festivities typically include a seudat mitzvah a celebratory meal with family, friends, and members of the community. Others may celebrate in different ways such as taking the bar mitzvah on a special trip or organizing some special event in the celebrant's honor. In many communities, the celebrant is given a certificate. The main idea according to the Orthodox view is that this boy or girl is so happy that they are now commanded to do mitzvah and now they will earn reward in the next world for their efforts, that they throw a party and have a festive meal.
Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties in America are often lavish affairs held at hotels and country clubs with hundreds of guests. The trend has been mocked, most notably in the movie Keeping Up With The Steins. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach says that over-the-top bar mitzvah parties were already common when he was growing up in Miami in the 1970s.
Read more about this topic: Bar And Bat Mitzvah
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