A Bar Mitzvah's First Mitzvah
Question
What is the first mitzvah which a Bar Mitzvah boy should observe?
Answer
The day he becomes Bar Mitzvah, i.e., when he reaches the age of 13 years and one day, is like any other day in that it begins the evening before. This pattern was set at the time of creation when "there was evening and (then) there was morning." (Genesis 1) Hence, the first mitzvah for a Bar Mitzvah to observe is the evening service (Ma'ariv).
In particular, it is the evening Sh'ma that is his first act as a Jewish adult. The Sh'ma is the basic affirmation of Jewish identity. It contains the basic Jewish dogma (God exists and is unique) and the basic duty (to love God, study His Torah and keep His commandments).
Some synagogues require a Bar Mitzvah boy to say publicly a specially written Bar Mitzvah prayer. Nice, but probably unnecessary, since the Bar Mitzvah boy who has begun his adult career with the Sh'ma has said it all.
The Name Ma'ariv
Question
Why is the evening prayer called Ma'ariv?
Answer
Erev is "evening", and God ma'ariv aravim, "brings on the evening." (Sefardim call the evening service Ar'vit.)
The Bar Mitzvah boy who has begun his adult career with the Sh'ma has said it all.
The Bar Mitzvah boy who has begun his adult career with the Sh'ma has said it all.
Why is evening, erev? The root a-r-v means "to mingle"; and erev is the time of transition when light mingles with darkness and day leads into night.
Verses After Aleinu
Question
After Aleinu in the Siddur there are three verses in small print. Why are they there?
Answer
These are the verses: "Be not afraid of sudden terror or of the destruction of (or by) the wicked when it comes" (Proverbs 3:25) "Plan a conspiracy and it shall be brought to naught: speak a word and it shall not stand, for God is with us" (Isaiah 8:10) "Even to old age I am the same; even to grey hairs will I carry you - I have made you and I shall bear you, I will carry you and save you" (Isaiah 46:4)
As the service ends and we are about to return to an often unfriendly world, these verses promise that whatever happens, God will watch over and support us. Saying these verses was recommended by a book called Zichron Tzion, based on a story in the midrash to Megillat Esther.
The story is that the instructions for the annihilation of the Jews of Shushan had been signed and sealed; and Mordechai must have been feeling very low. He met three boys coming out of school and asked them what verses from the Bible they had learnt that day. The boys answered with the passages I have quoted. This lifted Mordechai's spirits enormously and assured him that Haman's decree would not prevail.
According to the Vilna Gaon (in Kol Eliyahu), the boys, aware of what was happening around them, had looked for verses to prove that Haman would share the fate of his ancestor Amalek. One boy found comfort in the verse, "Be not afraid"; the second applied a verse that taught that conspiracies against God can not prevail; the third proved that even though Haman thought the Jewish God was too old to help His people, His power never wanes.
Another view sees the third verse as speaking of our old age, not God's. The Divine blessing goes with us throughout our lives. Unlike the ancient Spartans, who abandoned their old people on the hilltops and hoped they would die, God never abandons His people, even when they are old.