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.
Frameworks for the style of a welcoming and naming ritual
Practical matters and traditions to consider for a baby naming ceremony
Bringing the status and symbolism of covenant to the ceremony for welcoming and naming a daughter
Go forth to a place I will show you, a land you don’t know
Blessing for loved ones (partner, children, guest, etc…) on Shabbat or any occasion
An article about celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas in an interfaith family
While happily the majority of adoptions work out as planned, some do not. This havdalah ceremony marks such a loss.
A naming ceremony written especially for an adopted child
A prayer for the gift of an adopted child in which the baby is welcomed, the parents pledge to create a good and Jewish life for the child, and ask God’s blessings for the baby’s health and well-being
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
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