Tradition has it that when AbrahamAbraham is the first patriarch and the father of the Jewish people. He is the husband of Sarah and the father of Isaac and Ishmael. God's covenant - that we will be a great people and inherit the land of Israel - begins with Abraham and is marked by his circumcision, the first in Jewish history. His Hebrew name is Avraham. entered into the covenant with God through the ritual of circumcision, SarahThe first matriarch, wife of Abraham, and mother of Isaac, whom she birthed at the age of 90. Sarah, in Rabbinic tradition, is considered holy, beautiful, and hospitable. Many prayers, particularly the Amidah (the central silent prayer), refer to God as Magen Avraham – protector of Abraham. Many Jews now add: pokehd or ezrat Sarah – guardian or helper of Sarah., his wife, entered the covenant through ritual immersion in a mikvehThe ritual bath. The waters of the mikveh symbolically purify – they are seen as waters of rebirth. A convert immerses in the mikveh as part of conversion. Many Orthodox married women go to the mikveh following their period and before resuming sexual relations. Couples go to the mikveh before being married. Many, including some men, immerse before Yom Kippur; some go every Friday before Shabbat.. (A mikveh is a ritual bath.)
Some families choose to center their naming ritual around the use of a mikveh or to use a small baby tub symbolic of a real mikveh. Natural bodies of water (lakes, ponds, oceans) can also be used as mikvaot in addition to baths built explicitly for that purpose.
Some words to use for the Covenant of Mikveh:
Our mothers, RebekahThe second Jewish matriarch, Isaac's wife, and mother to Jacob and Esau. Rebecca is an active parent, talking to God when she is pregnant and learning the fate of her children, then ultimately manipulating Isaac and the children to ensure Jacob's ascendancy. Her Hebrew name is Rivka. and RachelLavan's younger daughter and Jacob's beloved wife second wife (after he is initially tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah). Rachel grieves throughout her life that she is barren while Leah is so fertile. Ultimately, Rachel gives birth to Joseph and dies in childbirth with Benjamin. Rachel is remembered as compassionate (she is said to still weep for her children), and infertile women often invoke Rachel as a kind of intercessor and visit her tomb on the road to Bethlehem., were betrothed and began new lives at the gently flowing waters of the well.
Our mother Yocheved gave life to her child 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. in the ever-flowing waters of the Nile.
Our sister MiriamMiriam is the sister of Moses and Aaron. As Moses' and Aaron's sister she, according to midrash, prophesies Moses' role and helps secure it by watching over the young baby, seeing to it that Pharaoh's daughter takes him and that the baby is returned to his mother for nursing. During the Israelites' trek through the desert, a magical well given on her behalf travels with the Israelites, providing water, healing, and sustenance. danced for the saving of lives beside the overflowing waters of the Sea of Reeds.
Water is God’s gift to living souls, to cleanse us, to purify us, to sustain us, and to renew us.
Moses and AaronBrother of Moses, chosen as Moses' interlocutor. His Hebrew name is Aharon. and the priests of 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. washed with cleansing waters before attending to God’s service at the altar.
As God separated the waters in the First Creation so do we ask that protecting waters surround this child.
As it is written: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean.” (Ezekiel 36)
And it is written: “I am a well of living waters, a garden spring, a stream flowing from the heights of Lebanon.” (Song of Songs 4:15)
You are Blessed, O God, Spirit (Sovereign) of the World, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us concerning Immersion.
Masculine:
Barukh atah adonai eloheynu melekh ha’olam asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al ha’mikvah.
Feminine:
B’rukhah at ya eloheinu ruah ha’olam asher kid’shatnu b’mitzvoteyha v’tzivatnu al ha’mikvah.
