Many religions have rights of passage into adulthood. Every religion has a different type of ceremony or practice that brings a child into adulthood.

The Jewish, Shinto, and Sikh religions have very interesting ceremonies and rights of passage. They are all very different, but occur for the same reason.

Why do religions celebrate when children become adults? This is celebrated for many reasons. One reason is that the religion is gaining more members who are now allowed to participate in more ceremonies.

Another reason is because it celebrates that the child is now seen being mature. It differs from religion to religion.

Judaism celebrates the passage into adulthood in a very unique, yet well known way. The boys celebrate with a Bar Mitzvah, and the girls celebrate with a Bat Mitzvah.

Bar Mitzvah translates to Son of the Commandment, and Bat Mitzvah translates to Daughter of the Commandment.

The Bar Mitzvah is celebrated when a boy turns thirteen. The Bat Mitzvah is celebrated when a girl turns twelve. It allows them to truly become a part of their faith and are now supposed to follow the commandments.

They are also allowed to lead religious services, and count as part of the minyan. The minyan is the minimum number of people needed to participate in religious ceremonies.

To celebrate the Bar Mitzvah the boy or girl are called up to the Torah to bless a weekly reading. This is usually followed by a party to celebrate the Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

How the Bar Mitzvah is celebrated isn't always the same. Only Orthodox Jewish boys celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs. Girls aren't allowed to take part in religious ceremonies. Other sects of Judaism do not celebrate with having a party, because it doesn't say you need to have a party in the Torah.

The Shinto religion of Japan celebrates the coming of age with the Seijin-no-Hi ceremony.

This ceremony is celebrated the when the participants turn twenty years old. It is celebrated with the whole community, and every twenty year old in the village takes part in the celebration. It is held on the second Sunday in January.

For the Seijin-no-Hi all of the participants are dressed in their best traditional attire. The young women are supposed to wear a Kimono and sandals. The same thing their ancestors wore 1200 years ago for the first ceremony.

The ceremony begins with the young adults going to the Shinto Temple to offer their prayers. Then they go to ceremonies where the elders give speeches and the twenty years old are given gifts.

Then the young adults usually go out to dinner with their families to celebrate their coming of age.

Twenty is a very important age for Japanese youth. They become an adult to their religion and to the government.