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

To be performed on the 8th day or another day

Hands gently cradling a newborn babys head, viewed from above.

Poem on parenting new baby struggling to feed 

Adult hand gently holding a babys hand, both resting on a soft, patterned blanket.

A blessing for a baby girl 

Sleeping newborn wearing a headband with a bow, resting peacefully against a soft blanket in a dark setting.

“Your birthright renews every breath”

A family stands in a field at sunset, as a child points toward the horizon.

Using a set of values to write your own blessings for a new baby

A woman reads a book in Hebrew while holding a sleeping baby in a sling.

“becoming a parent is a significant lifecycle event and merits its own ritual”

A woman holding and kissing a baby indoors on a couch.

“I created this prayer when I was a member of a very small synagogue with just a few children”

A happy family of three sits together, smiling at the camera in a bright room.

“May you never feel alone for you will always have each other”

Two children walk arm in arm down a leaf-strewn forest path in black and white.

“With you, we see a future we can only begin to imagine”

Mother holding a sleeping baby, standing peacefully by a crib with soft, natural lighting.

“We wrote this ritual to mark the adoption of our son, who was weeks away from his 18th birthday at the time”

A family of three smiling together outdoors, with hills visible in the background.

The Reconstructionist Network

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