Birthdays, Jewishly

The Encyclopedia Judaica could not be more blunt: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.” In fact, it says, the only birthday party mentioned in the Bible is for Pharaoh! (Genesis 40:20).

As a result, parents searching for ways to make birthdays Jewish will find few traditions to guide them. There are, of course, certain birthdays that do receive special recognition in Jewish tradition – the bar and bat mitzvahLit. Commandment. It is traditionally held that there are 613 mitzvot (plural) in Judaism, both postive commandments (mandating actions) and negative commandments (prohibiting actions). Mitzvah has also become colloquially assumed to mean the idea of a “good deed." and, among Chasidic Jews, a boy’s third birthday. Superstition may have played a part in spoiling the party. Jews have long believed that to call attention to a good thing – like overpraising a child – is to tempt the evil eye, a faux pas that demands the immediate recitation of keyn eyn harah, or kinahora, meaning “no evil eye” in Yiddish.

The tradition also holds that your birth alone is not as significant as the way you live your life. After all, King Solomon is thought to have said, “The day of death is better than the day of one’s birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). As a midrashA rabbinic method of interpreting text, often through the telling of stories. explains, ‘When a person is born, it is not known what he will be like when grown and what his deeds will be – whether righteous or wicked, good, or evil. When he dies, however, if he departs with a good name and leaves the world in peace, people should rejoice.” With that in mind, traditional communities are more likely to mark the anniversary of a revered leader’s death than his birth. Nevertheless, under the influence of secular culture, birthday celebrations have become a fact of family life. Why not create your own Jewish traditions and customs to celebrate your child’s birthday?

A birthday can be an opportunity to bring a spiritual element into your child’s life and yours. You can celebrate in a reflective way that helps you think about the blessings and changes the past year has brought. You can celebrate the qualities you most like about your child or reminisce about funny or heartwarming things your child did. And you can reflect out loud about what your child means to you. As your child grows older, this custom is likely to become a highlight of the birthday celebration. The following ideas adapt old rituals for modern celebrations.

Plan a birthday ShabbatShabbat is the Sabbath day, the Day of Rest, and is observed from Friday night through Saturday night. Is set aside from the rest of the week both in honor of the fact that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. On Shabbat, many Jews observe prohibitions from various activities designated as work. Shabbat is traditionally observed with festive meals, wine, challah, prayers, the reading and studying of Torah, conjugal relations, family time, and time with friends. dinner. Many families, especially those with older children, celebrate twice-once at a party for friends and a second time with just family. You can make the family celebration on Shabbat. On the Friday night closest to your child’s birthday, dedicate the Shabbat dinner to him or her.

In some families the birthday child uses a special plate reserved for this special event. And don’t forget the Hebrew version of the happy birthday song: “Yom huledet samayakh, yom huledet samayakh!“

You can also have a tzedakahCharity. In Hebrew, the word tzedakah derives from the word for justice. Tzedakah is not seen as emanating from the kindness of one’s heart but, rather, as a communal obligation. party. Give birthday children change to put in their own tzedakah box. Don’t worry if a very young child does not yet understand the significance – the idea is to create a tradition that grows in meaning as your child grows older. You can also give a charitable gift in honor of the birthday.

You can involve the birthday child in selecting the charity or project. The bulletins of the Ziv Tzedakah Fund list dozens of child-friendly tzedakah ideas, like buying a cow for a kibbutz or a horse for an Israeli organization that provides disabled people with therapeutic riding lessons.

Do a mitzvah together. Birthdays are a good time to convey the importance of mitzvotLit. Commandment. It is traditionally held that there are 613 mitzvot (plural) in Judaism, both postive commandments (mandating actions) and negative commandments (prohibiting actions). Mitzvah has also become colloquially assumed to mean the idea of a “good deed.". Here are some mitzvot ideas that can easily be incorporated into a young child’s special day.

• Bring a piece of birthday cake to an ailing relative or friend.
• Donate food to a local food bank.
• Make an art project together and bring it to a nursing home.
• Start a Saturday slumber party with a havdalahLit. Separation A ceremony performed on Saturday night to mark the end of Shabbat and the beginning of the week, using wine, a braided candle, and sweet-smelling spices. ceremony.

Plant a tree. An ancient and lovely tradition is to plant a tree when a new baby is born. According to the TalmudThe rabbinic compendium of lore and legend composed between 200 and 500 CE. Study of the Talmud is the focus of rabbinic scholarship. The Talmud has two versions, the main Babylonian version (Bavli) and the smaller Jerusalem version (Yerushalmi). It is written in Rabbinic Hebrew and Aramaic., in biblical times a cedar was planted for a son, a cypress for a daughter (Talmud Gittin 57a). The cedar symbolized strength and stature; the cypress gentleness and sweetness. The children cared for their own trees, and when the child was ready to be married, branches were cut from the tree to make the chupah.

You can build on this custom by planting a tree at every birthday. Children can watch their “family” of trees grow. You can use the occasion to tell the story of Honi, the Circle Maker, the miracle worker of Second Temple times (first century BCE), who planted carob trees throughout IsraelLit. ''the one who struggles with God.'' Israel means many things. It is first used with reference to Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel (Genesis 32:29), the one who struggles with God. Jacob's children, the Jewish people, become B'nai Israel, the children of Israel. The name also refers to the land of Israel and the State of Israel.. Once when a passerby asked why Honi bothered to plant a tree that would take 70 years to bear fruit, Honi replied, “As my ancestors planted for me, so do I plant for my children.” If you cannot plant a tree in a yard, arrange to plant one in the Children’s Forest in Israel.

Stage a Jewish puppet show. Puppeteers and other entertainers who cater to Jewish audiences often advertise in the local Jewish weekly. Or parents or older siblings can adapt a Jewish children’s book or Bible story using bought, borrowed, or handmade puppets.

Give a Noah’s Ark costume party. Guests can come as their favorite real or imagined animal, and a deck or a balcony can serve as an ark. Lead a “parade of the animals,” serve animal crackers, and, in commemoration of the symbol of God’s covenant with humankind, play up the rainbow theme by making homemade pizzas decorated with rows of tomatoes, mushrooms, and green and yellow peppers, and serve tutti-frutti sherbet with the cake.

Have a holiday party. Build Jewish festivals into the birthday celebration. Make a PurimLit. "Lots." A carnival holiday celebrated on the 14th of the Jewish month of Adar, commemorating the Jewish victory over the Persians as told in the Book of Esther. Purim is celebrated by reading the megilla (Book of Esther), exchanging gifts, giving money to the poor, and holding a festive meal. At the megilla reading, merrymakers are dressed in costumes, people drink, and noisemakers (graggers) are sounded whenever the villain Haman's name is mentioned. mask party for February or March birthdays, or an outdoor tent party at PassoverPassover is a major Jewish holiday that commemorates the Jewish people's liberation from slavery and Exodus from Egypt. Its Hebrew name is Pesakh. Its name derives from the tenth plague, in which God "passed over" the homes of the Jewish firstborn, slaying only the Egyptian firstborn. Passover is celebrated for a week, and many diaspora Jews celebrate for eight days. The holiday begins at home at a seder meal and ritual the first (and sometimes second) night. Jews tell the story of the Exodus using a text called the haggadah, and eat specific food (matzah, maror, haroset, etc). to remember the Jews’ wandering in the desert.

Give gifts with a Jewish content. If you want to show your children that you value Jewish heritage, show it with a Jewish birthday gift. Here are some suggestions: a tzedakah box, a Noah’s ark and animal set, a kiddie KiddushThe prayer recited over wine on Shabbat, holidays, and other joyous occasions. cup, a personalized kippahA small cap, traditionally worn by men, symbolizing humility before God. Although women traditionally covered their heads with a scarf or hat as a sign of modesty, today, some women wear kippot as well. (skullcap), a mezuzahThe mezuzah is a small box containing parchment on which are written the words of the Shema (Judaism's most central prayer). It is affixed to the doorpost of a Jewish home in order to fulfill the commandment to "inscribe [the words of God] upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates." decorated for children, video or audio tapes with Jewish stories and themes.

Recite special prayers: Special times call for special blessings. The following prayers appropriate for birthdays are suggested in On the Doorposts of Your House: Prayers and Ceremonies for the Jewish Home, edited by Chaim Stern (Central Conference of American Rabbis).

As on all other occasions, say the appropriate blessings over a glass of grape juice or wine. Before cutting the birthday cake, say this blessing.

Important Jewish Milestones

On reaching the age of 3: Among Chasidic Jews, a boy’s third Hebrew birthday is celebrated with his first haircut and a festive meal. The origin of this custom is in Jewish mysticism. Man is likened to a tree, and biblical law forbids eating the fruit of a newly planted tree for the first three years (Leviticus 19:23).

On reaching the age of 5: The fifth birthday is traditionally the time to begin TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general. study. Sometimes the five-year-old is brought to the cheder for the first time wrapped in his father’s tallitA four-cornered garment to which ritual fringes (tzitzit/tzitzi'ot) are affixed. The knots in the fringes represent the name of God and remind us of God's commandments. The tallit is worn during prayer and can also be drawn about oneself or around the bride and groom to symbolize divine protection..

On reaching the age of 13: The bar mitzvah at age 13 is a relatively recent ceremony in Jewish history; it began somewhere between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries The bat mitzvah at age 12 or 13 for girls is a modern tradition initiated in 1922 by the founder of Reconstructionism, Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan. The Shulchan Arukh, the Code of Jewish Law, tells us that we are closer to holiness on this special day. “‘The consummate indwelling of the holy soul in a person takes place on the thirteenth birthday for a male and the twelfth birthday for a female. For this reason they become responsible by biblical law to fulfill the mltzvot of the Torah’.” (Shulkhan Arukh Harav)

On reaching the age of 83: The eighty-third birthday is also associated with a Jewish custom. Many believe that a person has lived a full life when reaching 70. According to Psalm 90:10, “The days of our years are seventy years.” If you reach 83, you have the right to celebrate your bar mitzvah all over again.

On reaching the age of 120: “Until 120!” is a traditional Jewish wish for long life and good health. Rabbi David Cahn-Lipman in The Book of Jewish Knowledge, explains the custom this way: “In Genesis (6:3) God declares that humans will live only 120 years. According to the Torah, MosesThe quintessential Jewish leader who spoke face to face with God, unlike any other prophet, and who freed the people from Egypt, led them through the desert for forty years, and received the Torah on Mt. Sinai. His Hebrew name is Moshe. dies at the age of 120. Because long life was viewed as a reward for righteous behavior, living to 120 became an idealized goal. It therefore became a European custom to greet someone on his or her birthday by saying in Yiddish: ‘Bis hundert und tzvantzig – until 120!’ Not only are we wishing them long life; we are hoping that they will be, in some way at least, like Moses.”