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CHAPTER TWO - Birth Ceremonies and Life Beginnings
A: BACKGROUND
12. PERSONALIZING THE CEREMONY: PARENTAL ADDITIONS
So far, we have attempted to portray the power of the symbols that
are employed in the rite of the Brit and, when their full power
is understood, it might be felt that they stand alone without
any need for augmentation. However, as so often in ritual life,
there exists the natural impulse of the parents to make the ceremony
their own and it has become very common to embroider the ceremony
with many personal readings and other additions in order to create
something more personal and more specific.
The enhancement presents no problem in terms of tradition, and
parents may choose to do this in different ways, often in consultation
with the mohel.
- There are those who build a full ceremony with the Brit in
the middle around the Brit itself, with all the permanent
components.
- There are others who prefer to keep the two parts separate
and have their own ceremony following the conclusion of the
"official" one.
Some of the popular components, besides a general welcome to those
present, are:
- explanations of the name given and an exploration of its
meaning, both to the parents and to the tradition;
- blessings by other members of the family and friends;
- liturgical readings and sections of the Torah or other traditional
texts;
- poems or other non-traditional readings, and songs.
(The bibliography will include at least one guide to such
ceremonies and we will include a few particularly popular
additions in the text section).
The interaction between the two components of the final service
or ceremony can be extremely powerful and moving; even the most
cursory reflection will make clear the price that is paid by those
who confine themselves to the absolute minimum - the circumcision
itself - ignoring the other elements mentioned, whether the traditional
ones or the additional, personal pieces.
Links:
Initial concepts, with links http://www.tricityjcc.org/resources/lifecycle/birth_2.html
Foundation article http://judaism.about.com/library/lifecycles/blsimchatbat.htm
A little detail http://www.bnaimoshe.org/simchatbat.htm
Short, traditional, a little content http://www.ohavizedek.com/traditions/simchat_bat.shtml
Idea for Simchat Bat Certificates: http://www.arepublish.com/ASIM.html
Bibliography http://aleph.lib.ohio-state.edu/www/lifecycl.html#Birth
Naming
4-part article http://judaism.about.com/library/weekly/aa013000a.htm
Short, relates to naming http://www.cantork.com/simchat.htm
Names database http://www.20000-names.com/female_hebrew_names.htm
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