Bar and Bat Mitzvah "son" (), while "bat" () means "daughter" in Hebrew, and "mitzvah" () means "commandment" or "law" (plural: "mitzvot"). Thus "bar mitzvah" and "bat mitzvah" literally translate to "son of commandment" and "daughter of commandment". However, in rabbinical usage, the word "bar" means "under the category of" or "subject to". "Bar mitzvah" therefore translates to "an [agent] who is subject to the law". Although the term is commonly used to refer to the ritual itself, in fact the phrase originally refers to the person. The modern method of celebrating becoming a bar mitzvah did not exist in the time of the
Mitzvah goreret mitzvah is by habit, in which a person becomes accustomed to performing a mitzvah regularly. The contrast to this belief is called "aveira goreret aveira" in which the commission of an "aveira" (sin) leads to another sin. The phrase has often been used in songs for children to encourage the performance of good works. One popular song, written by Andy Vogel in 1986, was recorded on the Reform Jewish movement's "NFTY at 50" album, and is widely sung in the Reform Jewish movement. Mitzvah goreret mitzvah The Hebrew phrase mitzvah goreret mitzvah, averah goreret averah (Hebrew: מצווה גוררת מצווה; עברה גוררת