Your son’s Bar Mitzvah parsha is usually the Torah portion of the Shabbat on or after his 13th Hebrew birthday. The Hebrew date decides it, not the English one, so two boys born on the same English day, a few years apart, can read different portions. It is the preferred choice, not a fixed rule: the portion can be chosen to suit the family.
How to find your son’s parsha
First, find his Hebrew birth date. Second, find the same day and month in his 13th Hebrew year, which is his Hebrew birthday. Third, find the Shabbat on or after that day. The Torah portion read on that Shabbat is his parsha. The Bar Mitzvah calculator does all three. To do the first two by hand, read when is my Bar Mitzvah.
A worked example
A boy was born on Friday 10 January 2014, in the daytime. That was 9 Shevat 5774. His 13th Hebrew birthday is 9 Shevat 5787, which is Sunday 17 January 2027. The Shabbat on or after is 23 January 2027, when the portion is Beshalach. Beshalach is his parsha.
It does not have to be that Shabbat
The Shabbat on or after his birthday is the preferred choice, but nothing is set in stone. If family members cannot be there, if another celebration clashes, or for other practical reasons, a family may choose a Shabbat a couple of weeks later, or even a month or more. Some families who want the Bar Mitzvah in Israel choose a date about two months after the birthday, when the whole family can travel.
One thing does not wait. A boy should be called up to the Torah for an aliyah at the first opportunity after he turns 13. The portion for the full Bar Mitzvah can be settled after that, with your own Rabbi.
Occasionally the portion read on a given Shabbat can differ, so check it with your own Rabbi.
Is the Bar Mitzvah date the day he reads? Not necessarily. He becomes Bar Mitzvah on his 13th Hebrew birthday, and he should be called to the Torah at the first opportunity after that. The full portion he reads is usually the Shabbat on or after the birthday, or a later Shabbat that suits the family.
Can two boys born on the same English date read different portions? Yes. The Hebrew date decides, and the Hebrew date of an English birthday changes from year to year. A boy born on 10 January 2014 reads Beshalach. A boy born on 10 January in another year may read a different portion.
Can my son read a later Shabbat? Yes. Families often choose a Shabbat a couple of weeks or a month later for logistical reasons, or because of a clash with another celebration. Some choose two months later to celebrate in Israel. Settle it with your own Rabbi.
Find out how many months he needs
The portion tells you where he is going. It does not tell you how long the road is. In a 30-minute Zoom assessment with Rabbi M. Sabbah, your son reads and the Rabbi gives you a number of months. If you go on, the assessment is credited in full toward the first month.
