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Welcoming & Raising Children

We greet each child with affection and joy. Every baby comes to us full of promise and potential. As parents, we are privileged to welcome them into our families, our communities and the embrace of the Jewish people. Raising children to adulthood, we encounter many milestones along the way. Children are weaned, lose their teeth, and start school. Some get their driver’s licenses and eventually leave home for good. Here are rituals for welcoming children and for celebrating the milestones on their paths to adulthood.

Photo by Jordan Cassway

Shehehiyanu

A modern version in English of the traditional prayer for giving thanks [more]

Found In: Bar / Bat Mitzvah, Covenant & Naming Rituals, Daily Prayer & Mindfulness, Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life, Endings & Beginnings

Tags: shehekheyanu

How to Incorporate Tzedakah into Your Babynaming

Use your simcha as an opportunity to share your joy with the greater community and to express an important value. [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals, Pursuing Justice

Tags: tzedakah

Blessing Children

Traditional blessings for children on Friday night using masculine and feminine God-language. Families share their personal practices for blessing children. [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals, Friday Evening

Tags: at the shabbat table, Marcia Falk, priestly blessing

Blessing One's Children

Alternative blessings to the traditional ones of custom [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals, Friday Evening

Tags: at the shabbat table

Contemporary Misheberach

Blessings for growth in modern language for all occasions [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals, Daily Prayer & Mindfulness, Saturday, Becoming a Jewish Adult, Gender & Sexual Identity, Choosing & Affirming a Jewish Life

Tags: mi sheberakh

Blessing Loved Ones

Blessing for loved ones (partner, children, guest, etc...) on Shabbat or any occassion. [more]

Found In: Bar / Bat Mitzvah, Covenant & Naming Rituals, Friday Evening, Daily Prayer & Mindfulness, Parenting Day-to-Day

Tags: at the shabbat table

Naming Ceremony for an Adopted Child

A naming ceremony written especially for an adopted child [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: adoption, covenant, naming, priestly blessing, shehekheyanu

Prayer for an Adopted Child

A prayer for the gift of an adopted child in which the baby is welcomed, the parents pledge to create a good and Jewish life for the child and ask God's blessings for the baby's health and well-being. [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals, Fertility, Pregnancy & Adoption, Starting a Family, Welcoming & Raising Children

Prayer for Nursing for the First Time

From an Italian collection of 18th century prayers for married women written by Dr. Giuseppe Cohen and presented to his bride as a wedding gift. [more]

Found In: Breastfeeding & Weaning

Tags: breastfeeding

Baby Naming Candle Lighting Blessing

A candle lighting blessing for use during a baby naming [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: candle lighting