“Celebrating a Daughter”
A ritual to welcome ___ into the World.
This ceremony is to welcome our daughter ____ to the Covenant of the Jewish people and celebrate her with our friends and family. While there is a long history of ways our ancestors marked the birth of a baby girl, there is no traditional format or ritual. As this is a modern ceremony, we have put together what we think will become a new tradition in our family. We have chosen to hold this ceremony on Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the new month, which is a women’s holiday. This ceremony is not meant to be in place of a Brit Milah, but to welcome our baby daughter in an equally meaningful way.
A special thank you to Rabbi Small for his help and counsel in creating this ceremony. Thank you to our family and friends for joining us today from near and far.
The Ceremony
1)Welcome and Processional
___ will be brought in by passing her from her aunts and uncles to her parents to her grandparents, L’dorvador, from generation to generation.
2)Blessing Under the Chuppah
We will bless ___ under a tallit. This will start her in a life of Torah, Chuppah (marriage canopy) and MaasimTovim (good deeds). Additionally, just as a chuppah symbolizes the home being created, wenow bring___ into our home. ___ will be held by the Sandekot, ___’s Grandmothers, just as her brother’s grandfathers held him as his Sandekim during his Bris.
3)Brit Tallit – Covenant of Tallit Enfolding
We will wrap ___, literally and figuratively, in prayer and mitzvot. The tzitzit (fringes) of the tallit remind us of the mitzvot(commandments) that are the covenant between God and the Jewish people. We wrap ___ in the embrace of her people, her community. Through this ritual, ___ will symbolically be entered into the covenant, surrounded by the shelter of God and the love of her family and friends.
Baruch AtahAdonaiEloheinuMelechha’olamasherkid’shanub’mitzvotavv’tzivanul’hakhnisahbiv’ritamshelAvrahamv’Sarah.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has commanded us to enter this child into the covenant of Abraham and Sarah.
7)Parents Blessing
We have been blessed with the gift of new life. Through our loving example we hope to teach our daughter to become a caring and loving person with a sense of her own worth and respect for that of others. We dedicate ourselves to providing a home filled with the values and joys of Torah and we hope that our daughter will grow to cherish and emulate these ideals.
7)Grandparents prayer
Our God and God of all generations, we are grateful for new beginnings, for the bond of life that links one generation to the other. We are thankful for the blessings of family which bring meaning and happiness to our lives, and we rejoice with our children at the birth of their child, our granddaughter. May we all grow together as a family in health and in strength, in harmony and in love.
6)Naming blessingand explanation of the name
May the one who blessed our mothers, Sarah,Rebecca,Rachel, and Leah, Miriam and Devorah the prophetesses, Avigail and Esther the queen, bless this lovely child and let her be known as ___, the daughter of ___ and ___ in Mazel Tov and in a blessed hour. May she grow up in health and peace. May The Source of All Creation give to her parents the joy of seeing her happily partnered, the mother of children and full of honor and joy in her old age. And let us say: Amen.
7)Blessings for the children
For a girl
For a Boy
For Both
For a Girl: YisimechElohimk’SarahRivka Rachel vi-Leah For a Boy: YismichaElohimk’Ephraim vi-chi-Menashe. For Both: YvarechichaAdonai vi-yishmirecha.
Ya’erAdonaipanavelechaveechuneka.
YisaAdonaipanavelecha vi-yasemlicha shalom.
For a Girl: May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.
For a Boy: May God make you like Ephraim and Menashe.
For Both: May God bless you and watch over you.
May God shine the light of His face upon you and be gracious to you.
May God lift His face towards you and grant you peace.
9)Shechianyu
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַעוֹלָםשֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּוְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה
Barukhatahadonayeloheynumelekhha’olamshehekheyanuvekiyamanuvehigi’anulazemanhazeh.
Blessed are You, Source of All Blessing, who brings us to life,
sustains us and allows us to celebrate these wondrous occasions together.
The sources for this ceremony include:
Ritualwell.org
Celebrating Your New Jewish Daughter byDebra Nussbaum Cohen and Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso