Note: This ceremony can be used and adapted for your family
There is a biologic connection between life, growth, and burial: composting dead matter nourishes the new life. Today we will embark on the next stage of our journey as a family, one of growth and life as we bury and let go of the last stage.
The Jewish Pregnancy Book says that, according to the Talmud, the placenta should be preserved in a bowl with oil, straw, or sand and buried in the earth a few days after the baby’s birth to symbolize the cycle of life.
We bury ____’s placenta now to honor our first year as parents and his/her/their first year of life. As we bury this placenta, we hope it nourishes the earth as it nourished ____. New life will grow here.
This land we bury his placenta on is the ancestral land of the Abenaki, and the place we have made our home. We fell in love here, got married here and created a new life. ______ will be forever rooted here, in Vermont.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ‑יָ אֱ‑לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה
Barukh atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melekh Ha’Olam borei pri ha-adamah.
Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the universe who creates the fruit of the earth.
♡
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה, יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ, מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה.
Barukh atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melekh haolam, shehekheyanu, v’kiy’manu, v’higiyanu laz’man hazeh.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.
