B ar mitzvah celebrations are occasions of great joy but are they good for the Jews?
There are three different types of bar mitzvah occasions: Type I — the young man who has been studying Mishnah and Gemara for several years and is a budding Torah scholar flawlessly reads the entire Torah portion and then at the reception conducts a siyum on his completion of all Six Orders of Mishnayos and delivers a complex halachic discourse. This type is not uncommon in Orthodox circles in Israel.
Type II takes place in Diaspora Jewish communities. If he is a day-school product he reads all or part of his Torah portion and leads in the davening. Occasionally he will conduct a siyum on a tractate of Mishnayos. He will very likely go on to a Jewish high school and then to a secular university after which he will generally maintain a basic Orthodox lifestyle as an adult.
Type III is also in the Diaspora: After many months of private bar mitzvah tutoring the young man gallantly manages to read the haftarah ever so haltingly on his bar mitzvah Shabbos. At this type they mention how well he read the haftarah after which the bar mitzvah boy proceeds to the lavish reception and begins counting his presents. This Type III is the typical bar mitzvah routine of non-yeshivah-trained Diaspora bnei mitzvah.
