Bas mitzvoh - ceremony/minhogim?

Can you provide some detail on the historic and current customs/practices around a girl's turning Bat Mitzvah, any ceremony, etc?

Brian

There cannot possibly be a custom for a Bas Mitzvah that involves a ceremony. Ceremonies are generally held in public. This is anathema for a Bas Mitzvah who is becoming obligated in all the mitzvos, foremost among which is the requirement to be Tzanua. What is usually done is that the women of the family gather in a closed gathering and hold speeches perhaps which are addressed to the girl, her obligations and her privilege to be a full-member of Klal Yisroel. This suffices to make her transition an auspicious one that infuses her with encouragement and joy in her task.

MPerlman

I think this was a fair question. Ceremonies driven by minhag are not necessarily public, as you yourself said when you used the word "generally' in your response. While a boy becoming bar mitzvah typically includes participation in syangogue ritual (haftorah, aliyah, etc) it is not out of order to inquire as to whether there was any special ceremony or custom to recognize the matriculation of a girl to ritual obligation even if this was done as a family or in the privacy of the home.

Brian