Section 12.4: Bar Mitzvah for Hindus?
It is Jewish tradition to have their children participate in bris and bar mitzvah ceremonies. The bris (circumcision) is a religious ceremony performed on 8th day of childbirth. The Bar- (or Bat- for a girl) Mitzvah is a religious ritual performed at age of 12-13 years to announce the child as a Jewish adult (Coming of Age). The child has to commit to follow 613 mitzvoth (commandments) of the Torah for his/her life. The child becomes a son or daughter of the commandments, exploring what it means to live an ethical life, as they become a Jewish adult.
Is a Bar Mitzvah for children from a Hindu-Jew marriage with equality appropriate? It should be noted that if a Jew has married a non-Jew, he/she has already broken the covenant (#162) against marrying a non-Jew. Unless the Hindu is fully convinced and agrees that his/her children follow these mitzvoth, the Hindu probably should not commit to it for the following reasons: a) The Bar Mitzvah is not a hollow ritual devoid of meaning—without the intention to follow through you have created lies and deception as the foundation of your marriage, b) The Bar Mitzvah ceremony is not absolutely necessary by Jewish custom, and c) Children of interfaith marriages may wish to decide his or her their own religion as an adult, like Barack Obama did, without having a religious label imposed on them.
Here the author has listed some of mitzvoth that may have potential conflicts with Hindu belief system or cultural values. The First and Second Commandments state that there is only one God and praying to “other” gods is not acceptable. Is LORD Krishna the “other” god? There are approximately 40 out of 613 commandments on “idol” worship and not praying to a Human form of God. Are Hindu Gods being worshipped as false gods? Approximately 25 out of 613 commandments deal with sex. In Indian culture, it would be uncomfortable to discuss sex with a 12-year-old child in public. There are also nearly 80 out of 613 commandments that address how to kill and eat animals. A Hindu may wish to replace all these with one simple one—Do not eat animal meat!
It is ultimately up to an interfaith couple to make a knowledgeable decision for their interfaith child.
A select number of mitzvoth relating to Hindus are listed here. The rest of the mitzvoth can be viewed at Wikipedia.
Are Hindu Gods incarnations of the LORD God described in the Torah/Bible?
- 1: To know there is a God (yes, but do LORD Krishna, Ganesh and Goddess Laxmi qualify as God/Devatas/Devis?)
- 2: Not to think that there are other gods besides Him [This is the second of the Ten Commandment.]
- 3: To know that He is One (yes, but can She or He have different forms, like Hindu Gods?)
Are Hindus Idol-worshippers?
- 31: Not to make human forms even for decorative purposes (most Hindu Devis and Devatas are given human forms)
- 33: To burn a city that has turned to idol-worship
- 39: Not to save the idolater
- 51: Not to bow down before a smooth stone (most Hindu Gods, including Shiv Linga, are made of smooth stone)
- 527: Press the idolater for payment
- 549: The courts must hang those stoned for blasphemy or idolatry
Are you comfortable talking about sex with your young ones?
- 139: Not to have sexual relations with your mother
- 155: A man must not have sexual relations with an animal
- 157: A man must not have sexual relations with a man
- 158: Not to have sexual relations with your father
Interfaith Marriage
- 162: Not to marry non-Jews (why ask interfaith children to take this oath if their parents had an interfaith marriage?)
- 164: Not to prevent a third-generation Egyptian convert from marrying into the Jewish people
- 166: Not to let a mamzer (a child born due to an illegal relationship) marry into the Jewish people
Circumcision
- 86: To circumcise all males on the eighth day after their birth
Marriage Contract
- 122: To marry a wife by means of ketubah and kiddushin (is it a one-sided pre-nuptial agreement or a spiritual contract about their future life together and commitments?)
Animal Killing
- 168: Not to offer to God any castrated male animals
- 176: To examine the signs of animals to distinguish between kosher and non-kosher
- 187: Not to eat creatures that live in water other than (kosher) fish
- 188: Not to eat the meat of an animal that died without ritual slaughter
- 195: Not to cook meat and milk together
- 203: To ritually slaughter an animal before eating it
- 206: To send away the mother bird before taking its children
- 351: Carry out the procedure of the sin offering
- 354: Carry out the procedure of the guilt offering
- 372: To offer two lambs every day
- 443: Carry out the procedure of the Red Heifer (cow)
- 490: Break the neck of a calf by the river valley following an unsolved murder
Miscellaneous Commandments
- 208: Not to swear falsely in God’s Name (if you do not believe in all 613 mitzvoth, don’t falsely swear to God)
- 214: Not to break oaths or vows
- 579: Not to add to the Torah commandments or their oral explanations
- 580: Not to diminish from the Torah any commandments, in whole or in part.
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