According to Jewish tradition, a child becomes an adult once they step in front of the Torah for the first time at age 13. Why, then, is there nothing in the Torah about the significance of turning 13?
That’s what Debra Ackerman, the director of congregational education and programs at Olam Tikvah, explores in her workshop, “Today You Are a Man/Woman: Becoming a Jewish Adult.” The three weekly courses run from Dec. 4 to 18 at Congregation Olam Tikvah in Fairfax.
Ackerman, who has taught adult education at Olam Tikvah for 16 years, said she is interested in the topic of Jewish adulthood, and has taught the content to many early teens in the community ahead of their bar or bat mitzvah.
“This particular topic interested me to teach because I work with learners of all ages — kids and adults — and I think it’s a really interesting conversation to have about 13 being, in our world, Jewish adulthood,” Ackerman said. “But of course, it’s also still being a child. So we’re going to explore that sort of push and pull. Certain things are very much about taking on adult responsibilities, but also we’re talking about kids — what does our text in our culture say about that?”
In the first session, the 20 to 30 attendees will explore what Jewish texts say about the time a child becomes an adult. Although the Torah does not specify 13 as the age at which a child becomes a legal adult, early rabbinic sources do, including Pirkei Avot, Masseket Soferim and the Mishnah, according to Ackerman.
“Those are all later texts — they’re not Torah,” Ackerman said.
Rabbi Eliezer in “Genesis Rabbah” said “Until the 13th year it is the father’s duty to train his boy; after this, he must say: ‘Blessed be He who has taken from me the responsibility for this boy!’”
“We are going to look at a few other texts that talk about physical attributes that mean that you’ve moved into adulthood and obligations that you take on and those sorts of things,” Ackerman said.
The second class details the evolving ritual of b’nai mitzvah throughout history, such as where and how the tradition fits into the Jewish world. Ackerman said she will teach about when the b’nai mitzvah transitioned from a “moment in a larger service to a bigger moment, including becoming more inclusive — boys and girls.”
The third and final class examines b’nai mitzvah through the lens of popular culture and the ways in which they are portrayed in TV and film. Attendees will discuss their opinions about how pop culture presents the Jewish tradition and how that portrayal reflects the time and place in which it appears.
“How do we think it plays to people for whom [b’nai mitzvah] is not their ritual?” Ackerman asked.
One clip Ackerman likes is from the original “The Wonder Years,” a coming-of-age comedy TV series that takes place in the 1960s and early 1970s. In that clip, the main character’s best friend, Paul, boasts that he’ll receive lots of money and gifts as he prepares for his bar mitzvah. An heirloom gifted by Paul’s grandfather prompts Paul to realize that b’nai mitzvah is about family tradition rather than lavish presents.
Ackerman added that attendees of her previous classes are typically parents and retired adults, some of whom haven’t had a b’nai mitzvah themselves. But investment in the next generation of young adults is what encourages them to show up and learn.
“This is a community that really values learning as a lifelong endeavor, so we see that very much in all of our adult education programs,” Ackerman said. “I think this community is really proud every single Shabbat morning when they see a young man or a young woman get up on the bima for the first time. They’re invested in that experience.”
