Bris and Baby Naming Ceremonies
Celebrating Your Baby’s Jewish Heritage
The Brit Milah (or Bris) ceremony for boys, and the Baby Naming (Simchat Bat or Zeved Habat) ceremony for girls are important events in the life of a Jewish family. Both of the ceremonies are meant to be a beautiful, religious life-cycle events which are celebrated publicly amid a congregation of family and friends
Brit Milah (Bris)
A Bris is much more than a circumcision. The Brit Milah ceremony is meant to be a religious and spiritual event and not simply a surgical or social event.
While many choose to have a large party for a bris, others prefer a small, private event with just immediate family present. Either is fine as long as it is held on the eighth or proper day. It is frequently held in the morning. The Jewish day begins in the evening of the previous day. For example, if your son was born late Tuesday night, his brit will be schedule for the Wednesday of the following week.
You may want to decorate the house or synagogue with flowers or candles. While you will probably want to provide a festive table of food for your guests (the meal after a brit milahis considered a seudat mitzvah, a meal with sacred status), at a minimum you will need a loaf of challah or other bread (or two if it is Shabbat or a holiday), kosher wine, and a kiddush cup. You may want to provide kippot (head coverings) for those who wish to wear them.
Baby Naming Ceremony
The actual naming of a Jewish child takes place when the parents agree on the baby’s Jewish name. Traditionally, the baby girl’s name is announced on the first available Torah reading day following the birth (i.e. Monday morning, Thursday morning, Shabbat morning or afternoon or any Jewish holiday, festival or fast day when the Torah is read.). The baby boy’s name is announced during the Brit Milah ceremony.
. It is usually held within the first year and may be held in the home or synagogue. Some Jews have been developing additional ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a daughter. These ceremonies go by several names, one of which is “simchat bat” (“a celebration of [the birth of] a daughter”). Usually, the simchah (celebration) is held at a convenient time (not necessarily on the eighth day after birth) when both parents and other relatives can be present. Often, the baby formally receives her Hebrew name, and parents and other relatives participate by reading selections from the liturgy or sharing reflections. Sometimes, families arrange for their child to be named in synagogue as well, so that she can be welcomed by the entire community.
If you have been invited to either a Baby Naming Ceremony or a Bris, it is common to bring a gift to commemorate this special day.
Common Bris or Baby Naming Gifts include:
Money in increments of 18 (representing “Chai” the Hebrew equivalent of “Life”)
A donation to a Jewish school in the child’s name
Traditional baby items like clothes, blankets, etc
Special commemorative gifts to mark the occasion