Preserve the memory of your loved one with a plaque on our Yahrzeit Wall. Learn More ->

Search
Close this search box.

Welcoming & Raising Children

Close-up of adult hands with rings holding a childs hand, symbolizing family and unity.

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 ceremony for welcoming a baby girl into the covenant

Ritualwell Tradition & Innovation logo placeholder

Proposed service that includes new text, ritual objects, and a central role for the purifying blood of the mother

Ritualwell Tradition & Innovation logo placeholder

A rabbi discusses her desire to incorporate the notion of covenant into her daughter’s babynaming

Ritualwell Tradition & Innovation logo placeholder

A brief guide to babynaming history and how-to

Two smiling children lying on their backs, one with red hair and wearing a purple shirt, the other with dark hair and a blue shirt.

Traditional prayer for parents to say over a new baby in Hebrew and English

Ritualwell Tradition & Innovation logo placeholder

This blessing is traditionally used every Friday evening by parents when blessing their children.

Ritualwell Tradition & Innovation logo placeholder

Traditionally, a cypress tree was planted when a daughter was born and a cedar for a son. Their branches were woven together to make the wedding canopy.

Two hands passing a small plant in soil to another pair of hands, symbolizing care and environmental responsibility.

Psalms 100 and 118 for a baby naming ceremony

Ritualwell Tradition & Innovation logo placeholder

To recite when the baby is born or at the ceremony

newborn baby wrapped in blue blanket

Three categories of verses commonly recited at a naming ceremony

Ritualwell Tradition & Innovation logo placeholder

The Reconstructionist Network

Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement

Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis

Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues

Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives

Get the latest from Ritualwell

Subscribe for the latest rituals, online learning opportunities, and unique Judaica finds from our store.

The Reconstructionist Network