New Jewish Baby Book (2nd Edition)

Anita Diamant

Description

The practical, inspiring guide for all Jewish people expecting a baby.
Expanded, updated, and revised.

A complete resource to the traditions and rituals for welcoming a new child to the world and into the Jewish community, and for commemorating this joyous event in family life—whatever your family constellation.

• Provides ceremonies you can copy for handouts so that guests are an even greater part of the experience.
• Special section for interfaith families helps make the celebrations inclusive, comfortable, and joyous for all.
• Ceremonies for girls, as well as for boys.

"Drawn from the wealth of mythic, historic, religious, culinary, and literary traditions that surround the arrival of a new Jewish baby, and informed by contemporary insight and practice, The New Jewish Baby Book describes the many ways that new parents can celebrate the arrival of a child, the newest member of your extended families, and a unique and precious chapter in the on-going saga of the Jewish people."
—from the Introduction

Sujets

• Vie de famille
• Parentalité et Éducation des Enfants
• Rituals
• Philosophie et théologie
• Anita Diamant
• Judaism
• Religion
• Practice

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 24 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580235143
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Also by Anita Diamant
Nonfiction
The New Jewish Wedding
Living a Jewish Life: Jewish Traditions, Customs and Values for Today s Families
Bible Baby Names: Spiritual Choices from Judeo-Christian Tradition
Choosing a Jewish Life: A Handbook for People Converting to Judaism and for Their Family and Friends
Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying, Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew
How to Raise a Jewish Child: A Practical Handbook for Family Life
Fiction
The Red Tent
Good Harbor
The Last Days of Dogtown
Day After Night
Essays
Pitching My Tent: On Marriage, Motherhood, Friendship and Other Leaps of Faith
The New Jewish Baby Book, 2nd Edition:
Names, Ceremonies, Customs-A Guide for Today s Families
2010 Second Edition, Quality Paperback, Third Printing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information regarding permission to reprint material from this book, please mail or fax your request in writing to Jewish Lights Publishing, Permissions Department, at the address / fax number listed below, or e-mail your request to [e-mail] .
Grateful acknowledgment is given to the following sources for permission to use material: Kensuke Solomon and Eve Askin birth announcements Elaine Adler. Selections by Rabbi Debra Cantor and Rebbeca Jacobs on simhat bat adapted from Moreh Derekh, the Rabbinical Assembly s Rabbi s Manual, edited by Rabbis Perry R. Rank and Gordon M. Freeman, 1998 by the Rabbinical Assembly, page 228. Noah s Ark print Mickie Caspi and Caspi Cards Art. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Daniel birth announcement 1999 Peggy H. Davis; Double Rings 2002 Peggy H. Davis; Markowitz birth announcement 2002 Peggy H. Davis. Blessing of the Children, excerpted from Marcia Falk, The Book of Blessings: New Jewish Prayers for Daily Life, the Sabbath, and the New Moon Festival (Harper, 1996; paperback edition, Beacon Press, 1999). Copyright 1996 by Marcia Lee Falk. Used by permission of the author. www.marciafalk.com . Rachel Batya Stein and Daniel Alexander Wolf birth announcements 2004 Jonathan Kremer. Additional permissions statements can be found in the Notes section beginning on page 254. Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyright holders of all material used in this book. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions that may remain, and asks that any omission be brought to their attention so they may be corrected in future editions.
2005 by Anita Diamant
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Diamant, Anita.
The new Jewish baby book: names, ceremonies customs: a guide for today s families / Anita Diamant.-2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58023-251-7 (quality pbk.)
ISBN-10: 1-58023-251-5 (quality pbk.)
1. Jewish children-Religious life. 2. Baby books. 3. Names, Personal-Jewish.
4. Berit milah. 5. Brit bat. 6. Judaism-Customs and practices. I. Title.
BM727.D53 2005
296.4'4-dc22
2004029323
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cover design: Tim Holtz
Published by Jewish Lights Publishing
A Division of LongHill Partners, Inc.
Sunset Farm Offices, Route 4, P.O. Box 237
Woodstock, VT 05091
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
www.jewishlights.com
The New Jewish Baby Book is for:
People who are about to have a baby or who have just become parents.
People who are looking for a Jewish name for their baby.
New parents who wish to understand fully what it means to circumcise a baby boy with Jewish rituals and ceremonies.
New parents who wish to celebrate the arrival of a baby girl in a meaningful Jewish way.
New adoptive parents who are looking to express their joy in Jewish terms.
Professionals and lay-leaders in the Jewish community-rabbis, cantors, mohalim, educators, and synagogue leaders-who have contact with new parents.
Family members and friends who may not be entirely familiar with the ceremonies being planned by the new parents.
Non-Jewish family members and friends who wish to learn more about Jewish traditions and customs.
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1: Chai -Life
Conception
Pregnancy
Birth
Part 2: A Jewish Name
Naming
A Son! Boys Names
A Daughter! Girls Names
Part 3: Brit -Covenant
Covenants
Brit Milah -The Covenant of Circumcision
Questions and Answers
History
Traditional Interpretations
Planning a Bris
Liturgy and Ritual
Adoption, Conversion, and Rituals for Already Circumcised Sons
Caring for the Newly Circumcised Baby
Two Ceremonies for Brit Milah
Brit Bat -Welcoming Our Daughters
History
Planning a Brit Bat
Elements of a Brit Bat Ceremony
Four Ceremonies for Brit Bat
Hiddur Mitzvah -Beautiful Touches
Ideas and Readings for Your Celebration
Part 4: Simcha -Joy
Simcha Means Party
Announcements
Celebrations and Customs
Part 5: The Changing Jewish Family
Interfaith Families
Adoption
Part 6: The First Year
Weaning
Appendix 1: What Non-Jews Should Know about Brit Milah -the Covenant of Circumcision
Appendix 2: What Non-Jews Should Know about Brit Bat -the Covenant for a Daughter
Resources for New Parents
Notes
Glossary
Directory of Artists
Index
About Jewish Lights
Copyright
for my parents
H l ne Diamant
and
Maurice Diamant, whose memory is a blessing
Foreword
E ve had witnessed several of the animals in the Garden of Eden giving birth to their young. She once watched intently as a hippo gave birth, heard the noises that the mother made and saw how she immediately tried to clean her newborn of its afterbirth by licking it from head to toe. She thought of that scene as she began to feel the child in her womb pushing downward as it reached toward life. And after what seemed like an eternity of pain because of the contractions, when she finally saw her baby emerge, she exclaimed: kaniti ish et Adonai, I have gained a male [child] with God[ s help] (Genesis 4:1).
Although her words are somewhat amorphous, anyone who has been blessed with the birth of a child can understand something of what this first mother felt. The verb kanah in Hebrew can mean to purchase or to gain, but has the clear connotation of in perpetuity. In bringing Cain into the world, Eve sensed that birthing a child had as much to do with the future as with the present. It was through this little child that both she and Adam were guaranteed a future beyond themselves.
But there was more. As they acted upon the spark of divinity in both of them, having been created in God s image, they solidified their relationship with the Divine. It was as if Eve might have actually said: Kaniti et Adonai, [through the birthing of their child] I gained a greater sense of God. Kanah also has the connotation of create, and in their creative act, Adam and Eve experienced the presence of God as never before. In the Garden of Eden, everything was provided for them; nothing demanded their responsibility. Outside the paradisal Garden in the struggle in the real world, Adam and Eve came to know the exaltation of the creating of life as well as the responsibility that it entails.
The world outside the Garden of Eden into which Cain was thrust was much more complex and difficult than that in which his parents grew. If Adam and Eve had only to choose between eating or not eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Cain surely had choices to make at every turn.
All the more so are our children, who are born into a world in which the complexities of life and relationships can be overwhelming. We know this all too well even as Jews. The high rate of intermarriage, the increasing incidence of single parent families, the equality of men and women; all have had an impact on the way we must view the rites and rituals surrounding the birth, naming, and entry of children into the covenantal relationship between God and the Jewish people. New Jewish parents or prospective parents are confronted with a host of difficult questions, ranging from possible welcoming and naming ceremonies for a baby girl to how to include non-Jewish family members in an appropriate way in the brit milah of their newborn son. Jewish professionals, rabbis, cantors, educators, and mohalim also are forced to help single or gay parents who have adopted a child create meaningful ceremonies as well as assist non-Jewish relatives in understanding the significance of bringing a child to the Jewish people.
Anita Diamant s The New Jewish Baby Book is an invaluable resource and guide for Jewish parents and their families as they deal with the birth of their child. It will help educate them as to the origin, meaning, and importance of all the rituals and customs associated with the birth of a new child, while presenting them with any number of possible alternative ceremonies for brit milah and brit bat, an extensive list of male and female Hebrew names, and guideposts for how to handle these events.
For liberal Jews today, the issues and choices surrounding the birth of a child are manifold, and most Jewish adults need much help in educating themselves so as to know how to respond in personally meaningful ways. Anita Diamant will assist new Jewish parents in making intelligent choices that can enhance the spiritual significance of this most important moment in their lives and in the lives of their families.
In dealing sensitively with the oftentimes painful realities of Jewish family life today, especially as they surface when a child is born and in raising and responding to the myriad questions new parents always have, Anita Diamant has presented them with perhaps their first baby gift. The New Jewish Baby Book will enable them not only to experience t