The bar mitzvah's combination of spirituality and celebration goes back at least until the 16th century and continues today. (Photo from BarMitzvahDisco.com)

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My big fat American bar mitzvah

Fretting about lavish bar mitzvah parties is almost as much a feature of the landscape as the parties themselves. But a look at the history of this constantly evolving ritual suggests that the problem is both less problematic -- and less specifically Jewish -- than critics think.

By Mark Oppenheimer

May 22, 2005

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Mark Oppenheimer is the editor of the New Haven Advocate and author of ''Thirteen and a Day: The Bar and Bat Mitzvah Across America," which has just been published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (Full article: 1762 words)