Today I Am A (13 Year-Old) Man

(21) He used to say: At five years of age the study of Scripture; At ten the study of Mishnah; At thirteen subject to the commandments; At fifteen the study of Talmud; At eighteen the bridal canopy; At twenty for pursuit [of livelihood]; At thirty the peak of strength; At forty wisdom; At fifty able to give counsel; At sixty old age; At seventy fullness of years; At eighty the age of “strength”; At ninety a bent body; At one hundred, as good as dead and gone completely out of the world.

Bar mitzvah - that is, when he turns 13 and 1 day. It has become the custom not to say the blessing (of barukh shepetarani) until the lad prays with the congregation as its leader or reads from the Torah for the first time on Shabbat, thus making it known that he is bar mitzvah.

It is a mitzvah to make a festive meal on the day when one's son becomes bar mitzvah, just like the day when he enters the chupah....And the reason for the festive meal is that now he has become a man in Israel, commanded in the Torah's commandments....

(10) Rabbi Levi offered a parable: They [Jacob and Esau] were like a myrtle and a wild rosebush growing side by side; when they matured and blossomed, one yielded its fragrance and the other its thorns. For thirteen years both went to school and came home from school, [but] after this age, one went to the house of study and the other to idolatrous shrines. Rabbi Eleazar said: A parent is responsible for his/her child until the age of thirteen, at which point the parent must say: Baruch sheptarani mei’ansho shel zeh, “Blessed is the One who has now freed me from the responsibility of this child.”

(7) and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

(14) He [also] used to say: If I am not for myself, who is for me? But if I am for my own self [only], what am I? And if not now, when?

All of Israel is accountable for each other

(4) Hillel said: do not separate yourself from the community.

(8) And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may Dwell amongst them.

It is an obligation for each city to build a synagogue, buy a Sefer Torah, as well as books of Navi and Ketuvim.

Anywhere that there are ten Bar Mitzvah age Jews, they must prepare a place to gather for prayer to always be available .

If, however, there is a needy person among you, one of your community in any of your settlements in the land that the Hashem your G-d is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy. Open your hand and lend him sufficient for whatever he needs.

While eating and drinking, one must feed the stranger, the orphan, the widow, and other poor unfortunates. Anyone, however, who locks the doors of his courtyard and eats and drinks along with his wife and children, without giving anything to eat and drink to the poor and the desperate, does not observe a religious celebration but indulges in the celebration of his stomach. And about such is it stated (Hosea 9:4), "their sacrifices are like the bread of mourners, all who eat it will be contaminated; for their bread is for their own appetites."

However, considering that the people during the Second Temple period were engaged in Torah study, observance of mitzvot, and acts of kindness, and that they did not perform the sinful acts that were performed in the First Temple, why was the Second Temple destroyed? It was destroyed due to the fact that there was wanton hatred during that period. This comes to teach you that the sin of wanton hatred is equivalent to the three severe transgressions: Idol worship, forbidden relationships and murder.

Receive every person with a good attitude.

The honor of your friend should be as dear to you as your own.

"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor, that is the entire Torah, the rest is just commentary, now go and study."

Love your neighbor as yourself:

Judge every person positively.

He who shames a fellow person in public is as though he physically injured the other.