Aniconism in Judaism Aniconism in Judaism Aniconism in Judaism covers a number of areas. The portrayal of YHWH in any kind of human or concrete form is not encouraged. A number of verses in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) refer to prohibitions against the creation of various forms of images, invariably linked directly with idolatry. The strongest over-all source is based on what Judaism counts as the second of the Ten Commandments: This prohibition is widespread. For instance, Leviticus 26:1 reads: Similar injunctions appear in Numbers 33:52, Deuteronomy 4:16, and 27:15; in all cases, the creation of the image is associated with idolatry, and
Bar and Bat Mitzvah to maintain the rule that it was a smaller celebration than a wedding. 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". In the 1950s, Rabbi Harold Saperstein of New York described them as too often being "more bar than mitzvah". Rabbi Shmuley Boteach says that over-the-top bar mitzvah parties were already common when he was growing up in Miami in the 1970s. In 1979, the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of