Bar Mitzvah at the Wall

I got to attend a Bar Mitzvah today... at the Western Wall. I've visited the Western Wall a number of times but today was the first time I went there not as a tourist. I went there today to watch a 13 year-old boy read from the Torah.

This is a long-standing Jewish tradition, the Bar Mitzvah. At 13 a boy becomes a man and he does this by reading from the Torah in front of family and friends. At 13 he becomes responsible for his relationship with God and for his religious life.

This is the first Bar Mitzvah that I've attended. At least two other boys were having their Bar Mitzvah during the same time, reading from the Torah on the men's side of the Western Wall while the women stood on chairs peeking over the fence to watch.

I'm not one for pageantry and tradition for tradition's sake (and a lot of things seem like tradition for tradition's sake) but I'll admit to being moved by the ceremony. It isn't just a ceremony though. Hours and hours of practice goes into a Bar Mitzvah. The young boy is given more responsibility leading up to it. He must study. He must practice singing a portion of the Torah. He must have maturity and boldness to sing and continue singing when his voice cracks. It isn't the ceremony itself, it is all the hours of preparation, it is the focus and understanding that this 13 year-old boy demonstrates. I was surprised to realize that I truly felt like I watched a boy step across an invisible line and become a man.