Bar mitzvah literally means “son of the commandment.” So, what does it mean to become a bar mitzvah?

“It’s sort of like becoming a man in the Jewish community,” says 12-year-old Spencer Perez-Dormitzer. “It’s just a thing that we do.”

A bar mitzvah is the coming of age ceremony for a Jewish boy about to turn 13-years-old while a bat mitzvah is typically the same type of ceremony except for girls when they turn 12-years-old. Technically, the term refers to the child who is coming of age, and it is more correct to refer to someone as "becoming a bar (or bat) mitzvah.," though one is more likely to hear that someone is "having a bar mitzvah.”

Most synagogues require their younger members to complete what is called a mitzvah project as part of becoming a bar/bat mitzvah. For his project, Perez-Dormitzer, a member of the Tifereth Israel Congregation in New Bedford, held a clothing drive and bake sale on Sunday at Old Hammondtown School to benefit the Acushnet-based charity Gifts2Give.

“It’s a cool effort,” said Jason Perez-Dormitzer, Spencer’s father. “As a parent, I’m really happy to see him doing this kind of charity work.”

Spencer is a seventh grader at Old Rochester Regional Junior High and grew up in Mattapoisett. He attended both Center School and Old Hammondtown and has three younger siblings.

“I’m not really sure what I’ll do for my mitzvah project next year,” said Spencer’s 11-year-old brother Ethan. “Probably an event kind of like this that’ll help a charity.”

Kenneth Turkewitz is the executive director of Tifereth Israel and helped to promote Spencer’s project.

“It’s a project that requires students to go out into the community and do well for others,” he said. “Each child chooses their own project and this is what Spencer chose. Mitzvah projects aren’t specific to our synagogue, they have become a lot more common in the last few decades.”

Turkewitz said his nephew collected old sneakers, cleaned them up and then donated them to local shelters for his project. Students can choose whatever they want to do, as long as it benefits the greater community.

“We’re encouraging students to do more than just attend services after they become a bar or bat mitzvah, we’re helping them to do well in the greater community,” Turkewitz said. “The younger children are influenced by watching the older ones carry out these types of projects. It shows them that we’re part of something greater.”

A small group of Spencer's friends and family helped carry out the clothes drive and bake sale by collecting bags of clothing from people’s cars and greeting donors with a tray of baked goods.

Marissa Perez-Dormitzer, Spencer’s mother, said she and her husband helped get the word out.

“Between all of us we came up with a plan, and we’re actually happily surprised with the turnout, she said. “The school system was very supportive of us holding the event. Mrs. Bowman, the principle of Old Hammondtown and Center School, was very supportive of Spencer’s project. And it’s very nice of his friends to come out and help for the day.”

For his part, Spencer admitted, “I have no idea why I chose a clothing drive as my project. It was kind of like you either do a bunch of small things or do one large thing, like I could have gone to Gifts2Give every weekend and helped out there, or I could do this [the clothing drive]. I don’t know, this just kind of seemed like a lot more fun and like it would help out more.”

Perez-Dormitzer is also a student at Bernard H. Ziskind School of Judaism, which offers classes for students in kindergarten through seventh grade. His teacher, Melynda Schudrich, the educational director at Tifereth Israel, said Spencer is “a bright kid” in his classes, which meet about three times a week.

“He’s a great kid,” said Schudrich. “He’s engaging in school, he’s always willing to help out.”

Clothing can still be dropped off at Tifereth Israel Congregation in New Bedford to benefit Spencer’s mitzvah project. The actual bar mitzvah ceremony will be held on June 4.