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.
“Our tradition teaches that the birth of a child brings with it a new possibility for redemption, for transformative justice, for peace and wholeness.”Â
This ritual can be woven into an aliyah, another part of a Torah service or can stand alone
To be performed on the 8th day or another day
A blessing for a baby girlÂ
Using a set of values to write your own blessings for a new baby
“becoming a parent is a significant lifecycle event and merits its own ritual”
“I created this prayer when I was a member of a very small synagogue with just a few children”
“May you never feel alone for you will always have each other”
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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