“Son of the commandment”. Upon reaching the age of thirteen, boys are required to keep the laws that all Jewish men must fulfil. From then on they are counted in the minyan, the quorum of adult men necessary for public prayer. This term is also used to indicate the ritual celebration in which for the first time the boy is called up for the public reading of the Torah. The female equivalent is the bat-mitzvah. This ceremony is held when a girl turns twelve years of age and has only become a ritual celebration in recent generations.