Shoresh / Root	tzadi-vav-hei
Core Word	mitzvah
Translation	Transliteration	Hebrew
command, order, ordain (v.)	tzivah
commandment, precept, duty, pious action, kind act	mitzvah
[literally] son of the commandment; subject to the commandments	bar (Aramaic for “son”) mitzvah
[literally] daughter of the commandment	bat mitzvah
the attainment of religious and Jewish legal maturity by a boy or girl; also the occasion at which this status is symbolically assumed	bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah

Of all the words in the Jewish lexicon, perhaps the most abused is the familiar mitzvah. First, whenever the word mitzvah is translated solely as a “good deed,” it is diluted and devitalized. Second, it is often misused as a verb when, in fact, it is a noun. A boy or girl becomes a bar or bat mitzvah; one simply cannot say: “I was bar or bat mitzvahed last week.” This is like saying: “I was birthdayed last week.”

Mitzvah is based on the three letter Hebrew root, tzadi-vav-hei. The verb, tzivah, means to “command, order, ordain.” The noun, mitzvah, means “commandment, precept, duty, pious action, kind act.” In the Jewish tradition, there are 613 mitzvot in the Torah. Of these, 365 are prohibitions or negative commandments and 248 are positive mandates. Some are ritualistic; the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), the association of Reform rabbis, has published a guide to the Jewish life cycle called Sha’arei Mitzvah, Gates of Mitzvah. Some mitzvot are moral and ethical (e.g., “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” “You shall not oppress the stranger”).

The phrase, bar or bat mitzvah, is translated literally as a “son or daughter of the commandment.” The phrase specifies the attainment of religious and Jewish legal maturity, therefore a more accurate translation might be “a person who is now subject to the commandments.” In addition, the term is often used to refer to the occasion at which this status is symbolically assumed (although a ceremony is not necessary to reach this age of majority). The bar or bat mitzvah ceremony is a religious ceremony that marks the induction of the boy or girl into the ranks of the adult religious community. Mitzvah is a central word in the Jewish lexicon and it should be used respectfully.

Adapted from Edith Samuel, Your Jewish Lexicon (New York: UAHC Press, 1982), 110-111.