Confirmation

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Pronunciations

confirmation (kahn-fur-MAY-shin) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A ceremony on Shavuot that recognizes students aged 15-16 who are completing the religious school curriculum.

Example Sentences

  • "Confirmation originally took place at the end of the eighth year of religious school, but it has since been moved to the end of the ninth or 10th year (and occasionally later)." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • English

Who Uses This

  • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

Regions

  • North America

Dictionaries

  • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
  • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

Notes

  • "The ceremony may include reading from the Torah (particularly the Ten Commandments), speeches by the teens, and blessings by the rabbi. The service may be followed by a party. Confirmation was introduced by the Reform movement at the end of the 19th century to replace the Bar Mitzvah celebration; today it has been widely adopted by the various branches of Judaism as an addition to the Bar or Bat Mitzvah. During the Confirmation ceremony, students affirm their intention to live their lives as Jews. Some synagogues publish a list of the confirmands’ names in the local newspaper, congratulating them on their achievement." (JPS)

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