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
Coming of Age: Adult Bat Mitzvah Coming of Age: Adult Bat Mitzvah Coming of Age: Adult Bat Mitzvah, is a documentary produced in 1989 and directed by Bonnie Burt. Bat mitzvahs are not only for pre-teens anymore. Exploring women’s place in Judaism, "Coming of age: Adult Bat Mitzvah" takes a candid look at this twist on a relatively new tradition and what it says about the push for equality of the sexes in synagogue life. "Coming of Age" sits down with a group of women, aged 32 to 83, from different walks of life, to find out why, after all these years, they’ve decided to learn