Simkhat Ben

I. Introduction

Welcome to our welcoming ceremony for Eitan. It’s not a Brit MilahLit. Covenant of circumcision. As a sign of the covenant, God commanded Abraham to circumcise himself and his descendants. An infant boy is circumcised on the eighth day of his life, often at home or in synagogue. A festive meal follows.; that still awaits him. But we want to celebrate his arrival now (in part, lest we imply by waiting that there is no cause for a simkhahA happy occasion. Usually describes a celebration for a life cycle event (birth, wedding, etc.). until he is declared Jewish). We’re proud to call Eitan our son and delighted to share our joy in him with you today.

There are few resources for welcoming a not-yet-converted child so we have done our best to invent a ceremony that works. Your participation as a קהל—as our community—will be an important part of giving our ceremony meaning.

We begin today with Noah and some blessings with a more universal theme than those of the traditional BritLit. Covenant. Judaism is defined by the covenant - the contract between the Jewish people and God. God promises to make us abundant and to give us the land of Israel; we promise to obey God's commandments. This covenant begins with Abraham and is reiterated throughout the Torah. A brit milah, literally a covenant of circumcision, is often simply called a brit or bris. Milah service. Nonetheless, in some places we quote or evoke that liturgy as well, for there are passages that are not recited at a conversion but which we, as parents of a baby boy, want to hear. We are also using elements of Deana’s Simkhat Bat ceremony, after reworking its Book of RuthAn important female biblical character with her own book. The Book of Ruth, read on Shavuot, tells the story of Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and their return to Israel. Ruth’s story is often read as the first story of conversion. Ruth is the grandmother of King David. theme to fit the occasion. In addition, we borrow from other welcoming ceremonies for children, adopted and otherwise. We’ll conclude with an explanation of the name איתן ינאי.

II. Blessings

We begin with God’s promise to Noah; to all of us. It’s recalled in the blessing ברוך אתה ה’…זוכר הברית ונאמן בבריתו וקים במאמרו.  We invoke this blessing for its promise of the continuity of the generations. Eitan represents our fulfillment of the command “פרו ורבו” (Gen. 9:1 and elsewhere; see commentaries on יורה דעה 1:1 re: adoption). Though זוכר הברית is traditionally reserved for seeing a rainbow, we mention it here, as a זכר of a זכר.

Another blessing that serves to express our gratitude is a favorite of the mara d’atra here, Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman:

Blessed are You Ruler of the Universe who in goodness renews the work of creation each day

It is sobering to depart, as we did, on the eveEve, according to the book of Genesis, is Adam's wife, the first woman to be created. of ,יום הזיכרון Remembrance Day, to bring back a son. Here too we take comfort in the promises to Noah. We turn to Rabbi Nahman of Breslow’s prayer for peace (abridged from the version said every week here at Kol Haneshama):

Master of Peace, Ruler to whom peace belongs, establish peace among your people 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. and may peace increase among all peoples of the world… Master of Peace, bless us with peace. Amen.

One of the sources we drew upon for today’s ceremonyⁱ has a composite blessing that expresses our hopes that our son will be an active seeker of peace:

May 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. light your path and may your way be one of pleasantness. Shun evil and do good, love peace, pursue it, and help bring peace in the world (after Proverbs 3:7, Psalms 34:15, and MishnahThe first layer of Jewish oral law, written down in Palestine around 200 CE. The Mishna consists of six books or sedarim (orders), each of which contains seven to twelve tractates or masechtot (singular masechet). The books are Zeraim (Seeds), Moed (Festival), Nashim (Women), Nezikin (Damages), Kodashim (Holy Things), and Tehorot (Purities). Avot 1:12).

 Your word is a lamp unto my feet, a light for my path (Psalm 119:105)    

Our path to Eitan was not simple, but he is our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; his smile our light in the darkness. We were drawn to verses about light for we first saw the light in Eitan’s eyes in a photograph around Chanukah time and he is truly an אור איתן in our lives. We pray that the light of Torah will illumine his life.

THE GREAT BESTOWER OF GOOD   הטוב והמטיב

 

הטוב והמטיב

The very fact that this blessing was traditionally not said for a daughter has made it very popular for modern-day Simhat Bat ceremonies! Like many families, we say it when a second bottle of wine is brought out at the 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. table. Today we are saying it to share with you the joy of bringing home our second child.

III.  WITNESSING   התחייבות ההורים, עדות הקהל
(Parents’ commitment and witnessing by the congregation)

At Deana’s Simhat Bat we explained that she became part of the Jewish people with her conversion abroad but we wanted to celebrate with our community and have them add their “gushpanke.” Everyone present was invited to accept her into the community as Ruth was accepted into that of Naomi and Boaz. We said “עדים אתם היום…”  and you responded “.עדים”

We are asking you to be witnesses again today, but not to affirm what a בית דין said. We have no doubt that this ad hoc community welcomes Eitan, now as much as after a conversion, but even as far as כלל ישראל is concerned, there is nothing that he is obligated to do to be accepted. His future בית דין will take responsibility for asserting that גיור is to his benefit. We are the ones obligated to do everything in the coming months and years to prepare him for the day that he can himself assume מצוות. There is no reason to wait, since it is again our commitment that we are asking you to witness today. By becoming witnesses to our commitment to our child, you validate our formal welcoming of our son.

It is an awesome responsibility to be responsible for a child’s material and spiritual welfare—and in addition, to feel responsible for giving him a sense of pride in his land and culture of birth. We are glad to have you backing us.

Now let’s practice. When Joel points to you, you say “.עדים” We paraphrase from ספר רות.

When Boaz said on the occasion of Ruth’s entering his community, “You are witnesses today, ” all of the nation that was at the Gate of the Elders responded: Witnesses!

Now for the real thing.

You are witnesses today: We commit ourselves, in the name of the One who is called loving and merciful,ⁱⁱⁱ to take care of this child.

You are witnesses today: We commit ourselves to enter him into the covenant of our forefather 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..

You are witnesses today: We commit ourselves to nurture him, sustain him, and guide him in the paths of Torah, in accordance with the duties incumbent upon Jewish parents.

Whoever teaches their child does not teach their child alone, but also the child’s descendants and so on to the end of all generations.  [BT Kedushin 30a]

IV.  What’s in a Name?
 

 

God and God of our ancestors, sustain this child for his father and mother.
 

God before whom our ancestors walked, God who has been our shepherd all our lives until this day, the angel who redeemed us from all ill, bless this boy and let our names and the names of our mothers and fathers be upon him.^vi 
 

Thanks to God who is good, whose mercy endures forever.

Thanks to God who is good, whose mercy endures forever.

About the Name

Eitan, formerly Bryan Otoniel, is named first for himself, as Avraham was named for Avram and 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. for Sarai. (Likewise, our Deana began life as Diana). Bryan means “strength” and “Otniel” means God’s strength. Eitan is a translation. (He gives new meaning to חזק ואמץ.) A near anagram of איתן is תאנה, fig^vi—the name of a flowering fruit, in memory of Joel’s paternal grandmother Florry. It also harks back to a theme of our wedding: “עת הזמיר הגיע,” the passage from the Song of Songs that ends with “the fig tree ripens its early figs.” ^vii

Vort [word] about: דבר תורה     איתן האזרחי

Rashi and other commentators (see esp. R. Yosef Caspi on Kings I 5:1) indicate that Eitan HaEzrahi, mentioned in Kings I, was not only musically talented (as a Levite), but also a highly educated philosopher, second only to King Solomon in wisdom.

Hasten the day which is neither day nor night…Brighten as with the light of day the darkness of night.
     from the HaggadahLit. "Telling.” The haggadah is the book used at the seder table on Passover to tell the story of the Exodus, the central commandment of the holiday. It is rich in song, prayer, and legend. There are many different version of the Haggadah produced throughout Jewish history. (אור רוב נסים (ויהי בחצי הלילה  by Rabbi Yannai (7th c.?)

Yannai, which was another candidate for the first name, retains the final syllable of Bryan. In the models of Yannai the paytan and Yannai the amora, we add learning and creativity to strength of Eitan. In English, we are spelling the name Y-A-N-N-A-I; the middle letters spell Anna, Chaia’s paternal grandmother. The initial Y/י is in loving memory of Chaia’s late Uncle Joe.

A Final Blessing for Eitan Yannai:

Kiddush  קידוש 

Bon Appetit! בתאבון
 

^{i “}Simhat Lev: Celebrating a Birth,” published by  Shulamit Magnus in Lifecycles, vol. 1, Debra Orenstein (ed.), Jewish Lights, 1994, pp. 68–75.
ⁱⁱ From the Brit Milah liturgy.
ⁱⁱⁱ The wording of this and the third commitment (in Hebrew and English) are based on language in the “Brit Immuts” found in Anita Diamant’s The NEW Jewish Baby Book—Names, Ceremonies & Customs: A Guide for Today’s Families (Woodstock, Vt.: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1993), pp. 231–32.
^iv  From Genesis 48:15-16, in Magnes, “Simhat Lev.”
^v Based on the adaption of BT Shabbat 137B and the Brit Milah liturgy in Magnes, “Simhat Lev.” For הנודע לנו thanks to Avraham Leader.
^vi Thanks to Tirza Hayutman and Avrum Goodblatt for finding us a flower connection.
^vii As translated many years ago by the Bach sisters of Minneapolis, “the fig tree figgeth.”