Shofar Community

- He is counted in the Minyan (10 men) which is the basic condition to any worship or prayer in the synagogue.
- He must respect all the laws since from now it is not his father who answers for him before God any more.
The responsibility of some laws did only concern his father till then.

The age of 13 does not come from the Bible. It has been determined by the addition of the Hebrew letters composing the word of Bar Mitzvah.
This age was settled during the Talmudic times but it was only from the 7th century that we can find this tradition when the father thanks God for not having to answer for the acts of his children anymore.

This way, following his 13th birthday, the young man already wears Tefillins (phylacteries) and prays together with the whole community as being full part of it and having the same rights as the other adult men.
The next Shabbat, he will be called to the Torah as the Maftir (the one who reads the closing profetic portion),
This is when he puts on the Talith (prayer shawl) for the first time in his life. This shawl that will remain his main clothes until the last day of his life…