Bar/Bat Mitzvah is a kind of coming of ceremony for Judaism or it represent for men or women who have a responsibility religiously and socially to protect Jewish law.  Bar Mitzvah is for thirteen-year boys, and Bat Mitzvah is for twelve-year girls. When boy turn thirteen and girl become twelve, they are recognized that they have religious and social responsibility which follows the Jewish law.  People who are Jewish celebrate about this.  It is happened on Sabbath when western religious people must not do anything.  On the Bar Mitzvah day, the boy read a part of Jewish law, hold morning worship and so on.  Today, many non-orthodox Jews celebrate Bat Mitzvah same as boy, but the majority of orthodox Jews reject the idea that a woman read the Jewish law.  Therefore, girls can’t read Jewish law, but they can get a lecture about Jewish to mark their coming of age, learn about Jewish law and so on.  Traditionally, common gifts are religious or educational books, religious items, writing tools, money, etc.  Also, they are given tallit from their parents.  Tallit is a Jewish prayer shawl, and it is used during morning worship.

            For this celebration, people spend a lot of money, and invite many people, so it becomes more like a party and less religious.  Therefore, recently some religious leaders criticize that they loss the original meaning of Bar/Bat Mitzvah. 

I think symbolic item is a tallit.  It is symbol of Jewish, adult, and connection with parents.  And then, in my opinion, Bar/Bat mitzvah is a ritualization.  It set apart from regular activities, repetitive activities, has a symbolic item, so it is more ritual, but according to Wikipedia, people who don’t have enough money to celebrate this or who don’t belong to Jewish church are also recognized that they have a responsibility.  All people who turn twelve or thirteen years are recognized that they have a responsibility and they can join all Jewish community activities.  Therefore Bar/Bat Mitzvah can be a ritualization.

            The quinceañera is an Aztec tradition that is carried out in many Hispanic cultures today. It is basically a large-scale birthday party for 15 year old girls. The “quince” started as a celebration of the young woman’s reaching marriageable age. At that point, the elder women would teach her cooking, weaving, and other tasks designated to women. After the European conquest of Latin America, the ceremony became more tied to the Catholic Church. This also ushered in a stronger division of classes and quinces became reserved for the upper-class, much like European debutant balls. Today, quinces are still expensive, but women of all classes are usually able to have one.

            Most of the activities take place at the party, but the quince girl first visits the church for a special Mass where she is blessed by the priest and commits acts that symbolize her purity. These include pledging to protect her virginity and spiritual devotion, as well as offering a bouquet of flowers to the Virgin Mary. She then gives a doll, stuffed animal, or other childhood memento to a younger female family member. This symbolizes her separation from childhood and transition into womanhood. The presents given at the quinceañera are also significant and symbolic. She receives a prayer book, rosary, and bible for mass; a tiara for morality; a cross necklace for faith and virginity; and a ring for devotion to family, community, and God.

            After the Mass, there is a party attended by coupled female (damas) and male attendants (chambelans) as well as friends and family. There are usually 14 dama and chambelan couples to symbolize the quince girl’s 14 years up until then, but modern quinceañeras may cut the number down to 7 for financial reasons. One additional chambelan attends to act as the quince girl’s escort. The chambelans wear tuxedos and the damas wear formal dresses, but the quice girl’s dress is usually the nicest by far. The dress is symbolic of her femininity and is much like an especially elaborate prom dress. Furthermore, it’s considered rude for any of the attendants or guests to wear the same color as the quince girl’s dress.

            At the party, there is a banquet and a ballroom dance. The quince girl and her chambelan dance after the other attendants, but before the quince girl and her father perform the final father-daughter dance. Before they dance together, the father removes her flat soled shoes and replaces them with heels. This is her reaggregation as a woman. She walked in wearing a child’s flat-soled shoes, but leaves as a woman wearing heels.

http://users.polisci.wisc.edu/LA260/quinceanera.htm
http://www.joyfuleventsstore.com/s-9-history-of-a-quinceanera.aspx
http://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/cultural-traditions/quinceanera3.htm