the ceremony
The religious ceremony of a boy's Bar Mitzvah is held in the synagogue. Many guests are invited and the child is given a special prayer shawl called a Tallit. Adult Jews wear Tallits and when the child wears one at their Bar Mitzvah, it is a visual representation of their new status as an adult. The child carries the Torah to the podium, they are called to read or chat from the Torah (the Torah is the Jewish holy scrolls and is written in Hebrew). Usually only adults are allowed to read from the torah in the synagogue, but since the Bar Mitzvah symbolises the child's coming-of-age in the Jewish culture, he is seen as a grown adult and is able to read the torah in synagogue. After this, the boy receives a blessing from the father (synagogue leader) symbolising that the father is no longer responsible for the boy's sins.