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CHAPTER TWO - Birth Ceremonies and Life Beginnings
A: BACKGROUND
14. NEW-OLD RITUALS FOR BOTH SEXES
In the context of the development of new birth rituals, it is worth
noting the fact that recent years have seen more explorations
of new rituals for both boys and girls.
Some families have constructed separate welcoming ceremonies for
boys and girls alike a few weeks after birth; not, in the case
of boys as a replacement for circumcision, but as an additional
ritual. The logic here is that after a week of life, the family
is in too ragged a state to be able to focus on the rich and deep
aspects of ritual. A few extra weeks allow them to become more
focused and prepare for their own welcoming ceremonies in a fuller
fashion. These ceremonies are created out of a mixture of the
previously mentioned elements of Torah and personal ideas, readings
and songs.
Another non gender-specific idea which has been suggested builds
a ritual ceremony which incorporates the old Eretz Israel Jewish
custom of planting trees for the birth of a child, a cedar for
a boy and an acacia for a girl. The ceremony is mentioned in Tractate
Gittin of the Babylonian Talmud. In the ancient usage, the branches
of the tree would be later used in the child's marriage ceremony.
As we become more environmentally aware, this is a ritual that
will probably become increasingly popular if, sufficiently publicized.
A final suggestion, once again involving the revival of an old
European Jewish custom, is the making of a "wimple,"
a strip of cloth ritualized by the embroidering of blessings or
quotes from the Torah, out of the swaddling cloth that has wrapped
the baby during the circumcision, or the naming ceremony. In this
tradition, the piece of embroidered cloth would accompany an individual
through a number of different stages of the life-cycle. Following
its initial use as swaddling cloth, in its new incarnation as
a long strip of embroidered cloth it can wrap the Torah when the
child is brought to synagogue and is old enough to be conscious
of the ceremony, or alternatively, for bar or bat mitzvah. Later
on in the life cycle journey, the same piece of cloth can be woven
into the canopy of the chupah at the wedding ceremony. This custom
has started to become known in the communities of North America;
it is a particularly beautiful ritual, since it acts as an intermediary
between different stages of the life cycle.
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