It's a girl!
The joy of hosting a simchat bat
LILA BALTMAN
Special to the Jewish News
When Jewish boys are born, the tradition of brit milah is very well known and understood. On the eighth day after birth, Jewish boys enter into the covenant through the rite of ritual circumcision, which is a practice thousands of years old dating back to the time of our ancestors.
However, our ancestors back then did not have a covenant ceremony for the births of their daughters. Bringing a daughter into the Jewish faith with the intention and formality of brit milah is a relatively recent practice, which many Jewish families in the Valley are conducting and enjoying today.
When Rabbi Lisa Tzur of Temple Chai meets with Jewish parents who wish to host a simchat bat, also known as a brit bat, and give their daughter her Hebrew name in a formal ceremony, the first thing she tells them is to go out and buy the "quintessential" book by Anita Diamant for new Jewish parents entitled, "The New Jewish Baby Book" (Jewish Lights Publishing, $18.95 paperback).
In this wonderful book, she says, "all of their questions about hosting a brit bat will be answered."
The author explains, for example, that although there are precedents, there are no rules or Jewish laws for a simchat bat.
The Hebrew naming ceremony can take place at home or in the synagogue - wherever and whenever is fine.
Some parents choose to have it on the eighth day, which models the ancient rite of brit milah. However, because many women often don't feel ready for a party so soon after giving birth - and since there is no Jewish law stating that they must - the eighth day is a relatively infrequent choice.
Thirty days is a popular choice because it allows the family enough time to recover, plan and invite. It too has a basis in tradition, because the rabbis believed a child was viable only after 30 days.
A simchat bat on Shabbat can take place at different times in the day and in a number of contexts. In some congregations, the custom is to take the baby up to the bimah during services on Friday night or Saturday morning. There the rabbi generally conducts a brief ceremony. Blessings such as the traditional mi shebeirach are offered, and the name is announced. Additional readings may be incorporated as well. Afterward, the oneg Shabbat or Shabbat kiddish is often sponsored by the new parents or in the family's honor.
Tzur says that because there are no Jewish laws or stipulations involved in simchat bat, "it is really quite freeing, and a lot of wonderful, creative energy can be put into the planning."
Four years ago, when their first-born daughter was just a few days old, Gwenn and Scott Krell of Phoenix hosted a baby naming ceremony for their daughter, Rachell.
"We were very eager to have a naming ceremony for our first daughter because she is named after my father-in-law's sister Rachel who died at age 16 in the Holocaust," says Gwenn. "She was a kind-hearted, caregiver who was known as a volunteer nurse to those who needed her in the concentration camps. We wanted to name our Rachell after her so that her name and sweet spirit would live on in the Krell family. She was the only Krell sibling who did not survive the war. Needless to say, Rachell's baby naming was very emotional."
Gwenn and Scott wrote the program together and included speaking parts for their family and close friends who attended the ceremony.
Then, two years later, they hosted their second baby naming ceremony for daughter Kaycee, but this time decided to be much more whimsical and combined the Hebrew naming ceremony with a fun first birthday party.
"We chose to have a Hawaiian-themed celebration because of Kaycee's outgoing and spunky personality," Gwenn says. "It just fit for her, so we went with it."
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