[Avodah] bat mitzva "bo bayom

[Shoshana L. Boublil]

> From: T613K at aol.com

> There is a difference between an "accomplishment" and a "milestone." 
> Having
> a siyum marks an accomplishment -- there was something you had to  do.
> Having a birthday is a milestone.

And in many communities, birthdays are celebrated (with no connection to the 
American custom).
My daughters always like to say the following quote (attributed to Rav 
Soloveitchik):

"Your birthday is the day that Hashem decided that the world couldn't go on 
without you".

There are many milestones that  go unmarked.
> For instance, the day a woman gives birth to a baby is a  huge milestone 
> for
> her, guaranteed to be remembered for the rest of her  life.  But there is 
> no
> se'uda associated with it.

The Se'uda is not Bo Bayom - b/c the Yoledet is still in danger, and usually 
not up to a party.
For a boy - we have the Brit.

For a girl, it has been custom among many Sephardim that you have a se'udah 
for the newborn and the yoledet a few months afterwards, when the yoledet is 
up to it.  It is known as Zeved HaBat [NOT britta].

  She can make a  se'udas hoda'ah if she wants but most
> people don't.

I have on tape Rav Ushpizai HaZaken (as we called him) former Chief Rabbi of 
Ramat Gan, talking about how Zeved HaBat was a seduat Hodayah, and how 
wonderful it was. [taped during my youngest Zeved HaBat]

yet there
> never was any such thing as a bas mitzva celebration until the
> Reconstructionists and then the Reform came up with it.

And this is where I MUST protest.

The truth is that it is an ancient minhag among Italian Jews (and some 
Sephardi communities).

The Italian custom included gathering a group of girls who were Bat Mitzvah, 
on a regular day.
After davening Shacharit, the Aron Kodesh was opened, the girls were brought 
before it, and piyutim and blessings were recited by the congregation and 
the shul Rabbi.
Afterwards each family would have a se'udat Mitzva.

I read somewhere that actually the Reform took this custom from the Italian 
Jewry customs.

Shoshana L. Boublil