Q: Can you tell me what the Jewish 'age of accountability' is? Is it age 19, 20 or 21? How did the Jews come up with this specific age for accountability purposes? Wouldn't the 'age of accountability' depend more on the child's maturity rather than a specific age? If not, why? Is it true that any mistakes prior to the 'age of accountability' are considered for Jewish purposes to be a "childish/foolish mistake"? At what time in history did this "age 21" become custom with the Jews? Was this custom held by all Jews in Biblical times and can you cite references? Is it possible that the "age of accountability" ties in with the bar mitzvah today? Were children stoned for "childish, foolish mistakes" in the Biblical text?

A: (1) The only Jewish "age of accountability" in traditional Jewish law is that of Bar/Bat Mitzvah: 13 years plus one day for boys, 12 plus a day for girls. The rabbis regarded evaluations concerning maturity as too subjective, although it was clear that physical maturity and accompanying signs also carried significance. Louis Jacobs notes that strictly speaking, the signs of puberty are what count, but that the rabbis only made such a presumption of the presence of those signs at this specific age. There were some authorities which held people fully responsible only at the age of 20, but this was a decided minority. To the best of my knowledge, the age of 21 never had legal significance in Judaism.

(2) Mistakes prior to this age are not necessarily childish; however, responsibility for the consequences in Jewish law falls upon the parents, not the child. It is understood that the child may be fully aware of what he is doing and the consequences.

(3) The earliest source of which I am aware on this subject is the Mishnah, ca. 200 C.E., where it is taught that thirteen is the age for responsibility for the mitzvot. (Avot 5:23)