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An Israeli boy in Ghana was due to have the first Bar Mitzvah in the country. Bar Mitzvah is a Jewish coming-of-age ceremony. A Jewish boy automatically becomes a Bar Mitzvah upon reaching the age of 13 years.
A 13-year-old Israeli boy living in Accra, Ghana became the first Bar Mitzvah in the African Nation on March 28, 2004; according to a Chabad Lubavitch spokesperson the Bar mitzvah ceremony took place in the capital with assistance of Chabad Lubavitch of Central Africa, in Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo.
Two Rabbinical students and a Torah were dispatched from Kinshasa to facilitate the Bar Mitzvah ceremony.
"Bar Mitzvah" literally means "son of the commandment." Under Jewish Law, children are not obligated to observe the commandments; although they are encouraged to do so as much as possible to learn the obligations they will have as adults. At the age of 13 (12 for girls), children become obligated to observe the commandments.
The Bar Mitzvah ceremony formally marks the assumption of that obligation, along with the corresponding right to take part in leading religious services, to count in a minyan (the minimum number of people needed to perform certain parts of religious services), to form binding contracts, to testify before religious courts and to marry.
--GhanaHome Page
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