Question
Is a Jewish boy required to have a bar mitzvah? We started sending our son to bar mitzvah lessons in May and he did not cooperate with the teacher. He was so difficult, the teacher quit after two lessons. Sooner after, we hired another tutor, who quit after four lessons for the same reason. Our son told the second instructor he wasn’t interested in a bar mitzvah and did not understand why he had to do what he was doing. We are panicked now. His bar mitzvah is supposed to take place in November, and time to get him ready is running out. Our best efforts to find any further tutors have failed because he has resisted and proven to be a difficult kid. We are distraught about this not just because of his behavior we can’t control, but also because this is the only opportunity we have for all our family to be together for at least 10 years. And by then, it is not likely all our older relatives will still be around.

Question
My grandson had a Bar Mitzvah and I was surprised that I was the third in the line, after the Shul Rabbi and a Friend Rabbi, to get an Aliyah as my son-in-law decided. From where I come from, the Grandfather gets it after the Kohain and the Levy, but not after Rabbis not related to the family. What do you say?

Question
Dear Rabbi, I know the Bar Mitzvah age is 13 and 12 for Bat Mitzvah. Is there any rational explanation for this? Does something special happen to the person at these ages that makes them turn into adults for the sake of Jewish practices?

Question
I’ve seen Jewish parents educate their children to perform mitzvahs before bar or bat mitzvah age, which I assume is to ready them for being adults. Why then do I not see young boys wearing or owning tefillin? Thanks for this helpful service.

Question
My Bar Mitzvah is coming up soon, and I am very, very nervous about it. Do you have any advice on how to get over this fear? Many thanks.

Question
What is the youngest age a girl can have a bat mitzvah? Can it be in her 12th year but not yet 12?