Babies assigned female at birth are typically given a Hebrew name during the Torah service shortly following their birth. Brit milah is a male-only ceremony, and brit shalom was originally conceived to be a male-only alternative. However, modern notions about gender and equality are changing the way many of us look at Jewish ritual —…
Naming ceremonies for hospital-circumcised babies enable parents to have a Jewish birth ceremony when they feel a hospital circumcision is more convenient or otherwise superior to brit milah, or when brit milah feels foreign due to their secular or interfaith backgrounds. Parents of babies who are intact may also choose to have a naming. Some…
In one sense, a brit shalom is nothing more than a covenantal naming and welcoming ceremony for a baby who isn’t being circumcised. In another sense, it’s the parents’ declaration that although they’ve opted out of circumcision, they are choosing to raise a Jewish child — and are proud to be both Jewish and non-circumcising…
