The birth of a child provides an opportunity to celebrate and give thanks to God.
For sons, this is accomplished at the Brit Milah ceremony, as I described in the October
bulletin. For daughters we traditionally hold a naming ceremony. The naming typically
occurs at a Shabbat morning service, but can also be held on any occasion when the Torah
is read-e.g. Saturday mincha, Monday or Thursday morning, any holiday or Rosh
Chodesh morning.
This naming ceremony consists of an Aliyah to the Torah (usually chanted by the
father, but occasionally by the mother), followed by a blessing in which we offer good
wishes to the mother and father, and formally announce the daughter's Hebrew names.
Some families choose to enhance this celebration by further participation in the service,
including Torah reading, Haftarah, and a d'var Torah.
In the past few decades it has become increasingly popular to create and hold a
ceremony for girls which contains many elements found in the boys' Brit Milah, minus, of
course, the circumcision. Such a ceremony is usually called either Simchat Bat (literally,
"joy of a daughter") or Brit HaBat ("Covenant of the daughter"). In addition to the very
meaningful Torah ceremony, many parents welcome the opportunity to hold a more
private ritual in their home. The home-based Simchat Bat ceremony gives parents extra
time to focus on the blessing of their newborn daughter and to include the participation of
close friends and relatives.
Since there is not yet a fixed format for the Simchat Bat many couples choose to
create their own ceremony. Both Cantor Berris and I can offer assistance in this regard,
or share a model ceremony with you. Most ceremonies include many of the following
features-Welcoming the baby, Rituals (choosing among candle lighting, holding the baby
under a tallit and/or washing the little girl's feet-a biblical welcoming custom), Blessings
of Thanksgiving, Naming the baby, and a Se'udat Mitzvah (festive meal).
Unlike the Brit Milah, there is no fixed time at which a baby daughter's naming
must take place. However, there are a number of nice customs to guide us in this regard.
I recommend that parents come to the Torah as soon as possible after their daughter's
birth. In more traditional circles, fathers do so at the first opportunity, even within a day
or two following the birth.
Other customs for scheduling both the Torah naming and home-based ceremony
include: The eighth day, the thirty first day, or at the first Rosh Chodesh or Jewish holiday
after the birth.
All of the above applies equally to daughters who enter Jewish families through
adoption. The only difference is that the naming ceremony is preceded by a conversion,
assuming that the child's biological mother is not Jewish.
The most important thing to remember in celebrating the birth of baby girls, more
than the timing or the content of the ceremony, is that we take the opportunity to thank
God, and to welcome each little girl into the Covenant which has connected the Jewish
people with God since the time of Abraham and Sarah.