Birth

In Jewish law, although the human soul exists before birth, human life begins at birth, that is, at the time when the child is more than halfway emerged from the mother’s body. Judaism completely rejects the notion of original sin. According to Judaism, a child is born pure, completely free from sin. We pray daily “God, the soul which you gave me is pure. You created it, you fashioned it, you breathed it into me.”

Birth by Caesarean section is permitted in Jewish law, as would be just about any procedure necessary to preserve the life of the mother or the child.

Naming a Child

A person’s formal Hebrew name is used in Jewish rituals, primarily in calling the person to the Torah for an aliyah, or in the ketubah (marriage contract).

The standard form of a Hebrew name for a male is [child’s name] ben [father’s Hebrew first name and mother’s Hebrew first name]. For a female, the form is [child’s name] bat [father’s Hebrew first name and mother’s Hebrew first name]. If the child is a Kohein, the suffix ha-Kohein is added after the father’s Hebrew name. If the child is of the tribe of Levi, the subject Ha-Levi is added after the father’s Hebrew name.

It is customary among Ashkenazic Jews to name a child after a recently deceased relative. This custom comes partly from a desire to honor the dead relative, and partly from superstition against naming a child after a living relative. Among Sephardic Jews, it is not unusual to name a child after a parent or living relative.

Brit Milah: Circumcision

Of all of the commandments in Judaism, the brit milah (literally, Covenant of Circumcision) is probably the one most universally observed. It is commonly referred to as a bris (the Ashkenazic pronunciation). The commandment to circumcise is given at Gen. 17:10-14 and Lev. 12:3. The covenant was originally made with Abraham. It is the first commandment specific to the Jews.

Circumcision is performed only on males. Although some cultures have a practice of removing all or part of the woman’s clitoris, often erroneously referred to as “female circumcision,” that ritual has never been a part of Judaism.

Like so many Jewish commandments, the brit milah is commonly perceived to be a hygienic measure. However the biblical text states the reason for this commandment quite clearly: circumcision is an outward physical sign of the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people. The health benefits of this practice are merely incidental. It is worth noting, however, that circumcised males have a lower risk of certain cancers, and the sexual partners of circumcised males also have a lower risk of certain cancers.

The commandment is binding upon both the father of the child and the child himself. If a father does not have his son circumcised, the son is obligated to have himself circumcised as soon as he becomes an adult. According to traditional Judaism, a person who is uncircumcised suffers the penalty of kareit, spiritual excision; in other words, regardless of how good a Jew he is in all other ways, a man has no place in the World to Come if he is uncircumcised.

Circumcision is performed on the eighth day of the child’s life, during the day. The day the child is born counts as the first day, thus if the child is born on a Wednesday, he is circumcised on the following Wednesday. Keep in mind that Jewish days begin at sunset, so if the child is born on a Wednesday evening, he is circumcised the following Thursday. Circumcisions are performed on Shabbat, even though they involve the drawing of blood which is ordinarily forbidden on Shabbat. The Bible does not specify a reason for the choice of the eighth day; however, modern medicine has revealed that an infant’s blood clotting mechanism stabilizes on the eighth day after birth. As with almost any commandment, circumcision can be postponed for health reasons. Jewish law provides that where the child’s health is at issue, circumcision must wait until seven days after a doctor declares the child healthy enough to undergo the procedure.

The circumcision is performed by a mohel (lit. circumciser; rhymes with oil), a pious, observant Jew educated in the relevant Jewish law and in surgical techniques. While the circumcision is performed, the child is held by a person called a sandek. In English, this is often referred to as a godfather. It is an honor to be a sandek for a bris. The sandek is usually a grandparent or the family rabbi. Traditionally, a chair (often an ornate one) is set aside for Elijah, who is said to preside over all circumcisions. Various blessings are recited, including one over wine, and a drop of wine is placed in the child’s mouth. The child is then given a formal Hebrew name.

It is not necessary to have a minyan for a bris, but it is desirable if feasible.  As with most Jewish life events, the ritual is followed by refreshments or a festive meal.

The Circumcision Controversy

In recent times, circumcision has become controversial. Some have hypothesized that infant circumcision has harmful psychological effects and may cause sexual dysfunction. Many websites have sprung up promoting this point of view, and even in Israel there are those who want to outlaw circumcision as child abuse.

However, there is no concrete, scientific evidence that circumcision has any harmful effect. The rate of complications from circumcision is one of the lowest of all surgical procedures, and the most common complication is simply excessive bleeding. At most, the latest scientific evidence indicates that the health benefits of circumcision are not as great as previously assumed, thus there is no reason to perform routine circumcisions for the purposes of hygiene. However, as stated above, Jewish circumcision is not performed for the purpose of hygiene.

In March 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) and New York City recommended circumcision to reduce the spread of AIDS after a large-scale study found that circumcision reduced the rate of HIV infection of men through heterosexual sex by almost 60%. This finding isn’t actually anything new; there have been many studies for many years coming to the same conclusion. But even this finding is controversial: anti-circumcision advocates reject these findings and claim that the studies are flawed. In any case, circumcision is no substitute for safe sex!

From the traditional Jewish point of view, there is no controversy. The ritual of circumcision was commanded by God who would not command us to harm ourselves or our children.

Baby Naming

The ritual of naming a girl traditionally took the form of the father having an Aliyah to the Torah at the first opportunity following his daughter’s birth.  A blessing would then be recited that included the girl’s Hebrew name.

Given our egalitarian values at Beth Tzedec and in the Conservative Movement, girls are accorded the same attention as boys when named.  There are various naming rituals for girls as there is no consensus on the form for such a ceremony.  Neither is there an agreed upon time for the baby naming ceremony for a girl.  Some parents choose to name their daughter on the 8^th day similar to the time of a brit milah.  Others choose a Shabbat because it is a sign of the covenant between God and the Jewish people, while some prefer a Rosh Hodesh since it is a women’s holiday and still others hold the baby naming at Havdallah.

Regardless of when a baby naming ceremony is held, the ritual retains many of the same prayer and features of a brit milah ceremony.

Pidyon ha-Ben: Redemption of the First Born

According to the Torah, the first and best of all things belong to God. This is true even of the firstborn of children. Originally, it was intended that the firstborn would serve as the priests and Temple functionaries of Israel; however, after the incident of the Golden Calf, in which the tribe of Levi did not participate, God chose the tribe of Levi over the firstborn for this sacred role. This is explained in Num. 8:14-18. However, even though their place has been taken by the Levites, the firstborn still retain a certain degree of sanctity, and for this reason, they must be redeemed.

The ritual of redemption is referred to as pidyon ha-ben, literally, Redemption of the Son. Again, the egalitarian values of Beth Tzedec Congregation allow for the redemption of the first born daughter as well.

A firstborn must be redeemed after he/she reaches 31 days of age. Ordinarily, the ritual is performed on the 31st day (the day of birth being the first day); however, the ritual cannot be performed on Shabbat because it involves the exchange of money. The child is redeemed by paying a small sum (five silver shekels in biblical times; today, usually five silver dollars) to a kohein (preferably a pious one familiar with the procedure) and performing a brief ritual. This procedure is commanded at Num. 18:15-16.

The ritual of pidyon ha-ben/ha-bat applies to a relatively small number of Jews. It applies only to the firstborn child if it is born by natural childbirth. If a woman has given birth, divorces her husband, remarries, and has another child by the second husband, that second child does not have a pidyon ha-ben/ha-bat.  If the first child is born by Caesarean section, the ritual does not apply to that child (nor, according to most sources, to any child born after that child). If the first conception ends in miscarriage after more than 40 days’ term, it does not apply to any subsequent child. It does not apply to members of the tribe of Levi, or children born to a daughter of a member of the tribe of Levi.

Adoption

There is no formal procedure of adoption in Jewish law. Adoption as it exists in civil law is irrelevant, because civil adoption is essentially a transfer of title from one parent to another, and in Jewish law, parents do not own their children. However, Judaism does have certain laws that are relevant in circumstances where a child is raised by someone other than the birth parents.

In most ways, the adoptive parents are to the child as any birth parent would be. The Talmud says that one who raises someone else’s child is regarded as if he/she had actually brought the child into the world physically. For those who cannot have children of their own, raising adoptive children satisfies the obligation to be fruitful and multiply. The child may be formally named (see above) as the child of the adoptive parents, owes the adoptive parents the same duty of respect as he/she would a birth parent, and observes formal mourning for the adoptive parents as he/she would for birth parents.

Matters relevant to the child’s status are determined by the status of the birth parents, not by that of the adoptive parents. The child’s status as a Kohein, a Levi, a Jew, and/or a firstborn, are all determined by reference to the birth parents.

This issue of status is particularly important in the case of non-Jewish children adopted by Jews. Children born of non-Jewish parents are not Jewish unless they are converted, regardless of who raises them or how they were raised. The status as a Jew is more a matter of citizenship than a matter of belief. The conversion must be approved by a Beit Din (rabbinic court); a circumcision or hatafat dam brit must be performed for a male child; the child must be immersed in a mikveh and the parents must commit to educating the child as a Jew. Please consult Cantor Russ regarding such matters.