Lifecycles

World of Your Dreams (Andy’s Bar Mitzvah Song) | Song

Lyrics and music by Debbie Friedman, based on Talmud Berachot 17a

"May you live to see your world fulfilled"—song by Debbie Friedman based on Talmud Berachot 17a.

Awakening the Senses | Ritual Component

A new ritual in which the infant is offered something to stimulate each of her senses

Talmud Berachot 17a | Poem

Lawrence Kushner, Translator

"May your eyes sparkle with the light of Torah and your ears hear the music of its words"—a prayer for our children based on a talmudic passage.

Build Me a Daughter | Prayer

Modern prayer

We Dedicate Our Child to Torah... | Prayer

A modern prayer

Deuteronomy 29:9-13 | Reading

God incorporates all future generations into the covenant at Mt. Sinai.

Every Person Born into This World | Reading

From a passage by Martin Buber (adaptation)

Everything Possible | Song

Lyrics and music by Fred Small

A beautiful song, a lullaby, about fully accepting our children and offering them complete freedom to become themselves.

From Our Foremothers | Prayer

Modern prayer invoking the foremothers

Genesis 17:1-16 | Reading

God makes a covenant with Abraham, commands Abraham to circumcise himself and his descendants, and changes Abraham and Sarah’s names.

The Naming | Poem

By Jody Bolz

Lechi Lach | Song

Lyrics by Debbie Friedman & Savina Teubal (based on Genesis 12:1-2)

"Lechi lach to a place that I will show you/Lech lecha to a land you do not know…" —song by Debbie Friedman based on God's words to Abraham to seek his destiny.

May the One Who Blessed Our Mothers | Prayer

By Rabbi Naama Kelman

Modern prayer in Hebrew and English invoking the matriarchs

On Bringing a Child Home for the First Time | Prayer

By Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

A prayer to be said when bringing a baby home from the hospital or bringing an adopted child home for the first time

Shalom Yalda: Shalom Little Girl | Song

Music by Lamelle Ryman

Adapted from the Brit Milah liturgy

On Children | Song

Lyrics by Khalil Gibran, Music by Ysaye M. Barnwell

Lyrics adapted from the poem "On Children" by Kahlil Gibran author of The Prophet

On the Blessing of Children | Prayer

A traditional Yiddish techine

Secular Humanist Meditation | Reading

From Humanistic Judaism, Winter/Spring 1999 "Creating a Baby Naming Ceremony," (Beth Haskala, Rochester Society for Humanistic Judaism.)

A parents' pledge to their infant son

Talmud Ta'anit 23a | Reading

A talmudic story about tree planting

With All My Heart | Poem

By Rabbi Maggie Wenig, adapted from the poem by Rabbi Judy Shanks

A mother's prayer for the health and well-being of her new baby and the wisdom to raise her

Bring Me Good Guarantors | Prayer

from Shir HaShirim Rabba 1:24

A reading based on a traditional text in which God withholds the Torah from the Jews until they can offer good guarantors. God rejects the ancestors and the prophets, but accepts the children as good guarantors. Can be said by grandparents.

Birkat ha-Gomel | Prayer

Traditional prayer of thanks for a mother after delivering a child

Covenant of Creation | Poem

By Tikva Frymer-Kensky, z"l

A modern poem based on biblical texts

Gifts for our Daughter | Ritual Component

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

A Prayer for a Special Candle Lighting | Prayer

By Rabbi Fred V. Davidow and Rabbi David Fass

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

Parental Prayer | Prayer

Traditional prayer for parents to say over a new baby in Hebrew and English

Traditional Parental Blessing | Prayer

This blessing is traditionally used every Friday evening by parents when blessing their children.

A Grandparent's Prayer | Prayer

By Ruth Heiges

A blessing of gratitude

Tree-Planting Ritual | Ritual Component

By Treasure Cohen

Traditionally, a cypress tree was planted when a daughter was born and a cedar for a son. Their branches were woven together to make the wedding canopy.

Life in the Womb | Reading

Based on the Zohar

A fanciful account, based on the Zohar, a mystical text, describing a baby's life in the womb, during which time a candle burns over the baby's head, enabling her to see from one end of the universe to the other, and the angels teach her all of Torah.

D'ror Yikra | Poem

From the Itim Institute

Traditional liturgical poem (piyut) for welcoming the baby, also known as "Donash ben Labrat" in Ladino

Ya'alat Chen – A Graceful Gazelle | Poem

From the Itim Institute

Traditional liturgical poem (piyut) for welcoming the baby

Gratitude and Praise | Ritual Component

From the Itim Institute

Psalms 100 and 118

Blessings: Hatov V'hameitiv and Shehecheyanu | Ritual Component

From the Itim Institute

To recite when the baby is born or at the ceremony

Verses, Midrashim, and Acrostics | Ritual Component

From the Itim Institute

Three categories of verses commonly recited at a naming ceremony

Blessing: Gomel | Ritual Component

From the Itim Institute

Recited by the mother for the safe childbirth

The Parents' Blessing | Ritual Component

From the Itim Institute

The traditional priestly blessing for a congregation, directed to the newborn

Blessings by Siblings or Grandparents | Ritual Component

From the Itim Institute

Optional blessings to be recited by each or all

Blessing Loved Ones | Prayer

By Ellen Dannin

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