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.
A blessing for a son, drawing inspiration from our forefathers
An upbeat and funky melody for this popular song from Pslam 133
Invoking the prophetess Devorah and symbolically wrapping tzitzit to welcome a baby girl
Recalls the concept of the Sheva Berakhot used in a wedding ceremony
Excerpt from an original babynaming ceremony in which the baby is welcomed into the covenant by perfuming her ears with myrtle
Lighting a candle, symbolic of the new soul born into the world. Can also be used like a yahrzeit candle to recall the departed soul for whom the baby is named. Also a covenantal symbol.
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