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===Judaism===
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2012}}
[[File:Jewish Confirmation c1900.jpg|thumb|upright|Jewish confirmation {{c. |1900}}]]
In the 1800s [[Reform Judaism]] developed a separate ceremony, called confirmation, loosely modeled on Christian Confirmationconfirmation ceremonies. This occurred because, at the time, Reform Jews believed that it was inappropriate for [[Bar and bat mitzvah|bar/bat mitzvah]] -age children to be considered mature enough to understand what it means to be religious. It was held that children of this age were not responsible enough to understand what it means to observe religious practices. [[Israel Jacobson]] developed the confirmation ceremony to replace bar/bat mitzvah. Originally this ceremony was for 13-year-old boys.<ref name="Jacobson">{{Cite news|url=https://reformjudaism.org/what-confirmation|title=What is a Confirmation?|date=17 August 2012|work=ReformJudaism.org|access-date=9 March 2018|language=en|archive-date=10 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310075754/https://reformjudaism.org/what-confirmation|url-status=live}}</ref> In later decades, the Reform movement modified this view, and now much of Reform Judaism in the United States encourages children to celebrate becoming Barbar/Batbat mitzvah at the traditional age, and then has the confirmation at the later age as a sign of a more advanced completion of their Jewish studies.
Today, many Reform Jewish congregations hold confirmation ceremonies as a way of marking the biblical festival of [[Shavuot]] and the decision of young adults to embrace Jewish study in their lives and reaffirm their commitment to the [[Covenant (biblical)|Covenant]]. The confirmands represent "the [[First Fruits#In ancient Israel|first fruits]] of each year's harvest. They represent the hope and promise of tomorrow."<ref>Knoebel, ''Gates of the Seasons'', 77</ref> Confirmation is typically held in [[tenth grade]] after a year of study, but some synagogues celebrate it in other years of [[high school]].
Several secular, mainly [[secular humanism|Humanist]], organizations direct [[civil confirmation]]s for older children, as a statement of their [[life stance]] that is an alternative to traditional religious ceremonies for children of that age.
Some [[atheist state|atheist regimes]] have as a matter of policy fostered the replacement of Christian rituals such as confirmation with non-religious ones. In the historically Protestant [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany), for example, "the ''{{lang|de|[[Jugendweihe]]''}} (youth dedication) gradually supplanted the Christian practice of Confirmation."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Germany -– Religion |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-4909.html |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=www.country-data.com |archive-date=25 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325114341/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-4909.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A concept that first appeared in 1852, the {{Lang|de|Jugendweihe}} is described as "a solemn initiation marking the transition from youth to adulthood that was developed in opposition to Protestant and Catholic Churches' Confirmation."{{CN|date=May 2023}}
==See also==
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