CHAPTER TWO - Birth Ceremonies and Life Beginnings

A: BACKGROUND

7. BIRTH CEREMONIES: CELEBRATING BOYS… AND (ALMOST) CELEBRATING GIRLS

Let us now turn to the ceremonial frameworks in which naming takes place. Traditionally, this is done at the Brit milah (circumcision) of a boy, and during a brief naming ceremony in a synagogue context for a girl. It is these ceremonies that we must now consider.

There are actually a number of ceremonies connected with the birth of a Jewish child. The Brit milah for a male baby is clearly the central one, but there are a number of others which are worth briefly mentioning. In Ashkenazi communities there is a traditional gathering on the Friday night following the birth of a boy: this is known as a Sholem Zochor (a Yiddishized form of the Hebrew "Shalom Zachar") - welcoming the male. A similar ceremony in oriental communities is often called Shasha or Blada. The idea is to celebrate the safe arrival of the child through the singing and reciting of prayers and other readings, together with the eating of certain traditional foods.

The origin of this is apparently found in the Talmudic dictum, "If a boy is born, peace comes to the world" (Bab. Talmud, Niddah 31b), although there are those who see the origin in another Talmudic source that talks of a group of Sages who met to celebrate the birth of a son and give thanks for the health of the mother. This tradition sometimes takes place on the night before a circumcision, in which case it is combined with another tradition, the Leil Shimurim (a night of watching), which is based on a folkloristic belief that a baby boy is particularly vulnerable to evil spirits on the night before circumcision and must therefore be protected during the night by his guardians.

It is evident that, together with the Brit milah and the accompanying naming ceremony, all of these ceremonies are for boys rather than girls. Therefore we will need to examine the question of female equivalents of these rather elaborate rituals which welcome a boy child into the world and into the tradition. We will do this after we examine the ceremony of the Brit, but, at this point, let us merely point to the fact that the only traditional aspect of the welcoming of a girl is connected to the naming itself. Traditionally, on the Shabbat following the birth, the father is called up to the Torah in synagogue and the name of the baby is announced within the context of the Torah service, when a blessing is recited for the child, together with a wish for the well-being of the mother. This is traditionally followed by a kiddush or a festive meal. In some non-Ashkenazi communities, the ceremony is performed within a home setting, rather than within the synagogue.