What Jewish people practice with their Teens; Christians do not

I have attended a Messianic Jewish Synagogue since March of 2010. Over the course of these years I have attended several Bar/Bat Mitzvahs'. In fact my Rabbi's daughter 
will do hers in March.

A Bar Mitzvah is the Jewish ceremony where a boy aged 13 after several years of study in Hebrew, Jewish law and the scriptures conducts their first service in the synagogue.

A Bat Mitzvah is the Jewish ceremony where a girl at leas 12 years and one day after doing study in Hebrew, Jewish Law and the scripture conducts their first service in the synagogue.

Children in synagogues all over the world are trained to not only know the scriptures but to be able to read them and give their own personal insights on what they mean. This ceremony is where these children become responsible for their own spiritual development. One thing I noticed about how important this may be. Is in the Scriptures after Jesus bar mitzvah we never again  hear about Joseph. Is this because once he became responsible for His own spiritual development? He no longer needed Joseph's spiritual covering, because he was now directly responsible to the Father for his own development? 

In the historical context this age is also the time when boys and girls began to prepare for their entry into the adult world through learning a trade or entering religious training for boys. Girls learned the skills of running a household.

Why is this important?

God has chosen the Jewish people as His object lesson on the Earth. He has given us instruction through them from the time of Abraham. There is a prevailing thought in today's world to consider pushing adulthood and maturity back further and further. Instead, we in the western world need to begin to expect more from our teens and not less. From the age of 10 we should be training our children to begin to take responsibility for their own spiritual and also begin learning about practical aspects of adulthood.

Once a child in our world reaches the age of 18 they are legally able to sign on the dotted line to purchase a house, to have a credit card, have a car, etc. But, in our culture less and less are they prepared to be able to do so on a practical level. Training children to do laundry, cook, sew on a button etc are all things they should be able to do by age 13, because the teen years should be spent learning about budgeting, credit, saving, thinking about career, and roles in life etc. In addition to all the wonderful things of being a teen like playing sports, school, relationships etc. Kids need to learn to all the things they will need in order to navigate the world as an adult. Here is my definition of being an adult.

Adult is defined as a person over the age of 18 who is capable and responsible. This person has the ability to participate fully in the world by: engaging in self-care, spiritual, family, work, and financial aspects of life with respect, attention, and well-thought through actions.

  Being an adult does not come easy a large part of it is making good decisions. Giving teens the chance to make decisions while they are home and you can guide them before, during, and after s success or  a failure.will give them the confidence to make decisions when you are not with them. This is what the Jewish people give to their children which the western world does not give to theirs. I encourage you to begin to think along these lines as you enter into the world of parenting teens.

Believe in Parenting