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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

The Brit of Ayelet Kalila Vivianne Cohler-Esses

An original baby-naming ceremony using biblical images of the covenant which are not tied to gender. The ceremony makes use of henna as a symbol of the blood of the covenant. [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: covenant, Elijah, naming, welcoming

Covenant of Creation

A modern poem based on biblical texts [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals, Childbirth

Gift of a Daughter: Zeved Habat

Draws on traditional Sephardic Zeved Habat ceremony and adds new rituals, including Miriam's chair and modern poetry [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: covenant, Miriam, naming

Simchat Banot

A welcoming ceremony for twins [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: covenant, Elijah, naming, shehekheyanu , welcoming

Gifts for our Daughter

Ideas for ritual gifts to bestow upon an infant girl and words with which to present them [more]

Found In: Welcoming & Raising Children

A Prayer for a Special Candle Lighting

"There is a new light in our hearts and in our home..." [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: candle lighting

The Simchat Bat of Elana Shira

A ceremony for welcoming a baby girl into the covenant [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: covenant, naming, priestly blessing, welcoming

Simchat Brit

Proposed service that includes new text, ritual objects, and a central role for the purifying blood of the mother [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: covenant, naming, shehekheyanu

A Mother Talks About Her Daughter's Babynaming

A rabbi discusses her desire to incorporate the notion of covenant into her daughter's babynaming. [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: covenant

Celebrating Your New Jewish Baby

A brief guide to babynaming history and how-to [more]

Found In: Covenant & Naming Rituals

Tags: covenant