<P> Instead of reading from the Torah, some Humanist Jews prefer a research paper on a topic in Jewish history to mark their coming of age . Secular Jewish Sunday schools and communities--including those affiliated with the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations and the Arbeiter Ring (Workmen's Circle)--encourage the youngsters to select any topic that interests them and relates to the Jewish part of their identities . </P> <P> The kibbutz movement in Israel also encouraged the celebration of the bar mitzvah . All those coming of age in the community for that year would take on a project and research in a topic of Jewish or Zionist interest . Today many kibbutz children are opting for a more traditional bar mitzvah celebration . </P> <P> Among some Jews, a man who has reached the age of 83 will celebrate a second bar mitzvah, under the logic that in the Torah it says that a normal lifespan is 70 years, so that an 83 - year - old can be considered 13 in a second lifetime . This ritual is becoming more common as people live longer, healthier lives . </P> <P> A Bark Mitzvah is a pseudo-traditional observance and celebration of a dog's coming of age, as in the Jewish traditional bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah . The term has been in use since at least as early as 1997, and Bark Mitzvahs are sometimes held as an adjunct to the festival of Purim . </P>

When did the practice of bar mitzvah begin