› Forums › Hebrew Catholics › Bar-Mitzvah ((???? spelling????)) › Reply To: Bar-Mitzvah ((???? spelling????))
David, we responded to your email by email. But for the sake of those who read these forums, I thought it was best to include our response here as well.
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1. We are happy to learn that you are interested in the Jewish roots of our Catholic faith. I believe that the AHC can help you learn more about these roots. Let me suggest some possibilities.
Registration on our website is not the same as becoming a member of the AHC. If you wish to affiliate with us, please fill out the affiliation form on our website under the menu item “Contacts.”
You can read our publication, “The Hebrew Catholic,” produced about 3-4 times per year. Current and previous issues are available on our website.
You can join our Facebook group, Association of Hebrew Catholics. It was started by a friend, and its members are Catholics of both Jewish and non-Jewish origin.
You can also join one of our havurot (study/prayer/fellowship groups). There is a Zoom meeting of the Saint Louis havurah on Friday, Feb 17. You can find more info and the Zoom link for this meeting on our website under the “Events” menu item.
2. A Hebrew Catholic is simply a Catholic who is also a Jew. You become a Jew when you are born under a Jewish parent. After birth, boys are circumcised on the eighth day, Girls go through a naming ceremony. The only other way to become a Jew is through conversion to the Jewish religion. For a male, that will also require circumcision. But to convert to Judaism, you would have to deny your Catholic faith.
The Bar Mitzvah ceremony celebrates a Jewish boy’s 13th birthday. Bar Mitzvah means “son of the commandments.” That is when he takes on all the rights and responsibilities of an adult male in Judaism. In Reform Judaism today, there is a similar ceremony for girls called the “Bat Mitzvah.”
However, there is no need for you to become a Jew, or a Hebrew Catholic. If you are Catholic, you are in the family. Jew and Gentile now have the same dignity in Christ. We may each have different callings or vocations, but we are all now one family. It is good to learn of your Jewish roots, and to practice some if you wish. But nothing more is needed. In fact, you have already received a great gift of recognizing the Jewish roots of Catholicism. Not everyone recognizes those roots.
In the prayer beginning: “Baruch Attah Adonai Eloheinu …” “Adonai” means Lord and “Eloheinu” means God. So, in English it is translated: “Blessed are Thou, O Lord, Our God …” Then, the rest of the prayer follows.