Abstract
Cultural competence is necessary in understanding the implications of several traditions and customs to the provision of advanced nursing care and service. The objective of the essay is to describe a religious tradition, in this case is the bar mitzvah, and analyse the implication of their values and beliefs on the provision of advanced nursing care and service. The bar mitzvah is a Jewish celebration or ceremony of a child reaching the age of 13. The child celebrant during the bar mitzvah will acquire some of the most important religious rights of the Jewish community such as the reading of the blessing from the Torah during their weekly service. One of the main implications of the bar mitzvah on the provision of the advanced nursing care is that it has a major role in the developmental transition and stress level within the family.
Introduction
The Jewish community has been using their cultural and spiritual values for thousands of years. The Jewish people are practicing sacred traditions and customs even in the modern times. One of these sacred customs and tradition is the celebration of the “Bar Mitzvah”. In the old Aramaic language, the term bar means “son” while the term mitzvah means “law or commandment” (School of Metaphysics, 2002). In the context of the Jewish celebration or tradition, the term bar means “follower”. In this case, the phrase bar mitzvah literally means “follower of the law”. The bar mitzvah is celebrated by Jewish communities around the world especially in the United States. These customs such as the bar mitzvah have important implications on how to provide nursing care and health services to the Jewish community (Rich, 2011). The objective of this essay is to understand the tradition of the Jewish community by describing a cultural custom called American bar mitzvah. The essay also opts to identify some of the implications to the values and beliefs for the provision of advanced nursing practice and health services.
Description of the Event
The event that I have attended into is the American Bar Mitzvah of Andrew Nussbaun at the Temple of Beth Am in Miami, Florida. Ceremonies and reception exist in the American bar mitzvah celebration. The event is formal and there are religious rites and passages that occur. The event coincides with the Shabbat service or a religious day for Jewish people. The event is also considered as the celebrant’s first aliyah. The term aliyah refers to the reading to the blessing from the Torah for their weekly service which is considered as an honour for the Jewish community (School of Metaphysics, 2002). This term also refers to the immigration of the Jewish people to Israel which is considered to be their Holy place.
The celebrant, who is Andrew Nussbaun, was called up to the Torah, a book which covers the entire teachings of Jews, and recites a blessing for their weekly reading. After the recitation of the blessing, the celebrant also leads the service or the congregation of several important prayers. It is also common to the celebrant to learn some of the traditional chant and the haftarah portion which is a reading from the prophets (School of Metaphysics, 2002). The event was followed by the reception in which guest are allowed to eat and chat with the other people.
Cultural Values and Beliefs
In the Jewish law, children below 13 years of age are not obligated to follow or to observe the commandments of God. However, they are allowed and encourage understanding their obligations when the time comes (School of Metaphysics, 2002). They are allowed to learn their obligations by reading and understanding the Torah. At the age of 13, the children are now obligated to follow or to observe the commandments of God and they could celebrate the formal and public celebration of the bar mitzvah.
There are several rights which are given to the children after their formal and public celebration of the bar mitzvah. One of these rights is the participation in the religious services such as reading a blessing from the Torah at their week service (Rich, 2011). Other rights which are given to children after their bar mitzvah includes the right to be counted in a minyan which refers to the minimum number of people who are required to perform in a religious service, the right to testify in a religious court, the right to marry and the right to form a binding contract (School of Metaphysics, 2002). Coming to an age of 13 is important to the Jewish people.
In the past, the Jewish community does not require ceremony or celebration for a child reaching the age of 13 (Rich, 2011). The Jews believed that the child reaching the age of 13 automatically acquires the right given by the bar mitzvah. The bar mitzvah is also not a required celebration or ceremony to become one of the Jewish people like the popular media was telling. In general, the bar mitzvah is a modern innovation and it is not written or discussed in their religious texts or writings. The American bar mitzvah is a modern innovation in which people celebrates the fact that a child acquires the religious rights from God.
Another cultural value or belief which is important to consider in the ceremony or celebration of the bar mitzvah is about its main objective. The bar mitzvah is not about a child acquiring the goal of the education from the Jewish teachings. The celebration is also not about the end or graduation of the child’s education of the Jewish teachings (School of Metaphysics, 2002). The Jewish people believed that they are obliged to follow and understand the Torah for the rest of their lives. The bar mitzvah should be also viewed as an agreement of the child for applying the Jewish teachings in his or her adult life. It is also the child’s acceptance of their duties and responsibilities as a member of the Jewish community.
Implication to Advanced Nursing Care and Health Service
The bar mitzvah is a celebration which coincides with a process of family transition. One implication of the religious celebration of the bar mitzvah is that it has a major role in the development of child. It also means that it has a major role in improving the cognitive skills of children with developmental disabilities (Vogel & Reiter, 2004). Studies have shown that the gratifications and the frustrations of care giving from the family are not constant throughout the lifespan of any child. There are transitions in the family’s life cycle were the stress level is high especially during the puberty period of the child (Vogel & Reiter, 2004). The religious values and beliefs from the bar mitzvah could help removing the high level of stress during these periods of transition.
The health care personnel or nursing practitioners should consider understanding the religious traditions and customs of the Jewish people in order to understand the family transitions that occur in their community (Vogel & Reiter, 2004). One of the main family transitions is the celebration of the bar mitzvah. Successful celebration of the bar mitzvah could imply that the family has a developmental transition and their stress events are already occurred. Understanding the stress level of the family during the transitions could also help in understanding the mental, physical and social health of the children.
The roles of religion and spirituality on the development of the individuals with disabilities have not yet been studied or fully understood (Vogel & Reiter, 2004). However, it should be considered that family transitions such as the event of the bar mitzvah has a role in the progress of the stress level within the family. Stress level within the family has a significant relationship to the mental and physical health of every person.
Reference
Rich, T. R. (2011). Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah and Confirmation. Retrieved February 22, 2016, from http://www.jewfaq.org/barmitz.htm
Vogel, G., & Reiter, S. (2004). Significance of a Bar/Bat Mitzvah Ceremony for Parents of Jewish Children with Developmental Disabilities. Mental Retardation, 42(4), 294-303
