Comparison and Analyzation of Rites of Passage

The Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the Aranda Intiation Ceremonies have different focal points:  the purpose of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah is to prepare a boy for religious adulthood in his culture whereas the purpose of the Aranda Ceremonies are to create bonds and kinship alliances.

Both cultures experience the stages of rites of passage although they may not be as obvious as other cultures.  For the Bar/Bat Mitzvah of the Jewish culture, the boy is not separated by walls and isolation but through his studies--he has to spend a huge amount of his time with the Rabbi of his synagogue.  He does not undergo an official separation but he is differentiated from his community as a bar mitzvah.  For the Aranda, separation occurs first with the circumcision process and continues as the Parra Ceremony occurs, separating the boy from the rest of his community temporarily.

The transition period occurs in the Jewish culture as the bar or bat mitzvah is trained to read from Torah and in Judaism.  They are given the expectations of a religious adult and prepped for what being an adult in the religious realm of the culture entails.  The Aranda go through a transition as the boy bonds with the elder.

The Jewish rite of passage reincorporates the bar or bat mitzvah into society after their ceremony through the party.  This usually involves a feast, music, and dancing.  The Aranda conclude their ceremonies with the Tossing Ceremony where the boy is tossed, caught by his male relatives, and considered a man.

Both cultures practice the rites as a way to maintain their group cohesion and keep their communities together while continuing their traditions.  The rites are very entertaining for the culture as well.  The Jewish culture concludes with a party full of entertainment.  The Aranda conclude with tossing the boy in the air which provides entertainment for them.

What do these ceremonies tell me about the cultures?  First and foremost, the Bar or Bat Mitzvah tells me that the culture puts severe importance on the Torah and readings from it.  The norms include following the religious rules and regulations that have been in place for several years.  The values of this culture also focus on religion.  This culture places value on reading from the Torah and being an important member of the religious community--carrying the Tefillin while serving God.  The beliefs or worldview accept and believe that there is a God.  They consider the Torah a sacred text and regard it very highly.

The Aranda culture teaches me that the norms may include really close kinship among same sexes.  There may potentially be norms that encourage the men to be closer than the Western culture's norms allow--this can be a physical closeness, an intimate closeness, or a spiritual closeness.  Also, because this is focused on males, I can suspect a norm to be the practice of sex stratification in this culture.  The culture values kinship and bonding of kin.  Their worldview sees the mutilation of the male penis as a technique for bonding and getting close to other members of the community.