Welcoming & Raising Children

We greet each child with affection and joy. Every baby comes to us full of promise and potential. As parents, we are privileged to welcome them into our families, our communities, and the embrace of the Jewish people. Raising children to adulthood, we encounter many milestones along the way. Children are weaned, lose their teeth, and start school. Some get their driver’s licenses and eventually leave home for good. Here are rituals for welcoming children and for celebrating the milestones on their paths to adulthood.

Latest Rituals

A complete ritual for a family to bury the new child’s placenta under a plant in the garden.
A Placenta-Planting Ritual
“I’m proud of you, my child, for the courage to step away from family and  familiarity / For venturing out to meet new people, try new things, discover a new You.”
teen jumping into a lake
A short reading of gratitude for those who support the Jewish people.
people holding lit candles at night
A complete ritual for monthly exams for all people with breasts
hand holding one apple blossom
“We have been waiting for you”
closeup of newborn white baby held by adult white hands
“my body has been a source of sustenance and nourishment for my little one”
woman shown from afar sitting under tree with red leaves breastfeeding a baby. The woman is white with soft blond wavy hair.
“How might we mark the moment of birth and coming into Jewish covenant without focusing on the gender and genitals of an infant?”
closeup of person's white hands holding white baby's small bare feet with dappled sunlight shining
“May you claim your ancient power”
brown skinned woman in black tank dress holding hands and dancing with two brown skinned girls by the ocean with water in the background and sunlight
“We praise you, Shekhinah, / who has given us life”
purple flowers with a banner reading brucha at bayta diamond

The Reconstructionist Network

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