Birth

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Birth

Birth

Simchat Bat

t’s a girl! When do you name her? When should you throw the party? After eight days, two weeks, a month?
As opposed to a brit, circumcision, of a boy on the eighth day, there are no explicit rituals for a girl. Instead, there are customs for a Simchat Bat, celebration of a birth of a daughter.

Bris

It's a Boy!

Judaism, a baby's circumcision is much more than surgery. A Jewish baby's circumcision marks his entrance into the covenant with God.

Three Signs of the Covenant. The Hebrew word brit means covenant. In Judaism there are three signs which signify the covenant between God and the Jewish People.

Pidyon HaBen

Question: What is Pidyon HaBen?

Answer: Did you know that according to traditional Judaism every first-born child who is male belongs to God, and his parents should "redeem" him by making a symbolic payment? Pidyon HaBen (Redemption of the Son) is the ritual in which Jewish parents redeem their first-born son.

First-Born Sons Belong to God

When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, God took the life of every first-born Egyptian and spared the first-born of every Israelite. As a commemoration of this event, God said "the first issue of every womb among the Israelites is Mine" (Exodus, 13:2). Thus, first-born sons were sanctified and obligated to serve in the Temple.