Leap Year: Birth and Bar Mitzvah

Q. This year 5782 (2022) is a Jewish leap year (there are two months of Adar). In thirteen years from now (5795), it will again be a Jewish leap year. When will a baby boy born this year during Adar I become a Bar mitzvah, in Adar 1 or Adar 2?

A. The Magen Avrohom (55:10) writes that this boy will not become a Bar Mitzvah until Adar II. He offers this reasoning. A boy who will be born in Adar 5794 will not turn one year old in Adar 1 but rather in Adar II 5795, because Adar II is primary. Similarly, a boy who turns 12 in Adar 5794 would not become 13 until he ages one more year, which we have just shown will be Adar II, 5795. However, the Machtzis Hashekel (a commentary on the Magen Avraham) points out that our earliest known source to discuss a Bar Mitzvah in Adar is the Mahari Mintz, and he writes that a boy born during Adar I will become Bar Mitzvah in Adar I. Likewise, most poskim (Mishnah Berurah 55:43, Chayei Adam 66:61, Aruch Hashulchan 55:14 and Chasam Sofer OC 14) disagree with the Magen Avrohom, and rule that this boy will become Bar Mitzvah in Adar I, which is 13 years after his birth in Adar I. It is interesting to note that this question is not relevant for a Bat Mitzvah, because the way our calendar was set, leap years are never 12 years apart.

____________________________________________________

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.