Seudat mitzvah 7:37). It is customary at a "bar mitzvah" meal for parents to give thanks and praise to God for giving them the merit to raise a child to "bar mitzvah" and to educate him in the ways of Torah and the commandments. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef holds that a Bat Mitzvah is also a seudat mitzvah. Based on the Talmud and Midrash, the "seudah" celebration upon the completion of a Talmudic tractate is considered a "seudat mitzvah" ("Yam Shel Shlomo", "Bava Kamma", "Merubah" 37; "Maharam Mintz" 119; "Shach", "Yoreh De'ah" 246:37). This "seudah" is made to rejoice over the accomplishment, and
Bar and Bat Mitzvah and decorating a venue and hiring workers, from the catering staff to emcees, DJs, entertainers and dancers (also called "motivators") to encourage the guests to dance or play games. Today many non-Orthodox Jews celebrate a girl's bat mitzvah in the same way as a boy's bar mitzvah. All Reform and Reconstructionist, and most Conservative synagogues have egalitarian participation, in which women read from the Torah and lead services. In Orthodox communities, a Bat Mitzvah is celebrated when a girl reaches the age of 12. The majority of Orthodox and some Conservative Jews reject the idea that a woman can publicly