Brit Bat
Emily Faith Simon
hnFhalheraw
h#emo tb@ hnFw@m)e
July 13, 2003
What is a Brit
Bat anyway?
In our tradition, whenever a son is born, every Jewish parent
know what ceremony will welcome him into the community and signal his membership
in the Jewish People—the brit milah, the ritual circumcision ceremony. We have no such single practice for our
daughters. The idea of a brit bat, or
simcha bat, a welcoming ceremony for girls, is relatively new, having begun in
the early 1970s. That means that there
is no set liturgy. Jewish religious practice
is, and has always been, an evolving, organic process, reflecting the needs of
the Jewish community at a particular point in time and influences from the cultures
in which we have lived. The very notion of welcoming daughters in a religiously
significant way is rooted in an egalitarian concept of what Judaism should be:
different, perhaps, for females and males, but equal nonetheless. Thank you all
for honoring us with your presence and joining us in welcoming Emily into the
covenant of the Jewish People, and into the greater community as well.
Welcome – Rabbi
Amy Schwartzman
Blessed be the child whom we now welcome.
God and Creator, Your children have come into your presence with grateful hearts to reflect on their responsibilities as parents. Give them the wisdom to teach their child to be faithful to the heritage of the Household of Israel that she may grow up with the knowledge that You are always near to her guiding and sustaining her. Keep open her eyes and spirit, that she may ever be conscious of the beauty and wonder of Your world. And let her learn to love the goodness that is in man and woman that she may ever nourish the goodness that has been implanted within her. Though none can ever escape sorrow and pain, we humbly ask for her the courage to face evil, the Faith to transcend it, and the strength to subdue it. Grant her health of mind and of body that she may enjoy fullness of years and live to do Your will in faithfulness
A new daughter of Israel has come, and with her she brings blessing. The joy on her face will brighten our days, her laugh will lighten our burdens, her tears with burn our cheeks, and her life will add to our world. She brings a blessing to our lives, as she reminds us that the world is not yet complete, yet we each share in the task of perfecting this world.
All: Shehechiyanu
Ba-ruch at-ta
Adonai, Eh-lo-hei-nu meh-lech ha-o-lam,
sheh-heh-cheh-ya-nu,
vki-y’man-nu, v’higi-a-nu
la-z’man ha-zeh.
We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this season.
Marcus and
Rachel:
Part of our covenant with God is reverence for life; for it is written, “And God said to Israel: Choose life, that you and your descendants may live”.
The arrival of our daughter brings us joy and hope, and the courage to reaffirm our enduring covenant with life and its Creator.
As Emily is
brought into the room by Nana Carol and Grandma Susan, everyone:
yy M#eba@ hbf@ha hkaw=rb@f
B-rucha ha-ba-ah b-shem Adonai
May she who enters be blessed in the name of the Eternal.
Grandpa Sam:
As your eyes are filled with wonder when you gaze at the world, so too may you be filled with the wonders at the everyday miracles of life.
As you startle to the world around you, so may you remain ever open both to the happiness and to the pain of those you encounter in the world.
As you cry for food and comfort now, so may you one day cry out to correct the injustices of the world, to help cloth the naked and feed the hungry.
As your hand tightly grasps a parent’s finger, so may you grasp hold of learning and grow in the knowledge and wisdom.
Each of us has something special to give this child, a unique part of ourselves, a gift to illumine her path. May we guide you in your journeys and help protect both your physical and spiritual well being.
Entering the Covenant
We come together today to welcome our new daughter into our family and in the
covenant of the Jewish people. The covenant
was established more than 3000 years ago at Sinai when the entire Jewish people
– women and men, children and infants – born and unborn, were included in the
revelation of the Law and in it, affirmation.
This covenant has been reaffirmed throughout the millennia. It has always been the central endeavor of
each Jew in every generation to understand this covenant and to live
meaningfully by it. We give thanks for
the opportunity to bring our daughter into the covenant.
Ba-ruch a-ta Adonai, Eh-lo-hei-nu me-lach-ha-o-lam, asher ki-d’sha’nu
b’mitz-vo-tav, v’tzvi-va-nu l’hach-ni-sah biv-ri-to shel am Yis-ra-el.
K’shem she-nich-n’sah la-brit
Kein ti-ka-nes l;to-rah ul-chu-pah ul-ma-a-sim to-vim
Blessed are you Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe who has made us holy through your commandments and commanded us to bring our daughter in the covenant of Israel. As our daughter enters the covenant, so may she attain love of learning through the study of Torah, happiness in partnership with another human being, and the capacity to act toward others in honest, respectful and ethical ways.
Giving of the Name
Marcus:
In our tradition, children are named to honor the memory of loved ones who are no longer with us, carrying that memory from generation to generation. For instance, I am named for my father’s father, Marcus Simon. He too, was named for his grandfather, Marcus Simon. Five generations are spanned. Rachel was named for her Mother’s father Ralph Weissman.
Rachel:
The E in Emily’s name honors her Great Grandmothers, Eva Weissman and Esther Goldstein. The F in Faith honors the memory of her Great-Grandmother Frieda Aufman Simon – and, while we considered a number of names that began with F, the name we chose also conveys our belief that Emily’s birth was the result of our optimism and persistence in the face of adversity. For her Hebrew name we chose Emunah. The name begins with the same sound as Emily and has the same meaning in Hebrew as Faith does in English. Thus, with one name, one word, we honor the memory of Esther, Eva and Frieda, and thank God for the gift of our precious daughter.
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Our God, and God of our mothers and fathers! Sustain Emily Faith through her
parents loving care. In the presence of
loved ones, we give this child the name Emily Faith to be known in the Jewish
community as Emunah bat Moshe v’ Rachel Chana.
May her name be a source of joy to her and inspire her to serve our
people and all humanity.
May the One who blessed our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and our mothers, Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel, bless Emily Faith and keep her from all harm. May her parents help her to dedicate her life in faithfulness to God, her heart receptive always to Torah and Mitzvot. Then shall she bring blessing to her parents, her people, and all the world, and let us say: Amen.
Concluding Blessings:
Grandpa David:
Our God and God of all generations, we are grateful for new beginnings, for the bond of the new life that links one generation to another. Thankful for the blessings of family, for the love and care that brings meaning and happiness to our lives, we rejoice with our children at the arrival of their child, our grandchild.
May they grow together as a family in health and in strength, in harmony, wisdom and love, their home filled with words of Torah and acts of kindness.
Marcus and
Rachel - Blessing over the Wine:
This cup is the vessel of our hopes. We
first drank from it under our wedding chuppah.
Today, it is filled with the new wine of a life just begun, and from it
we taste the sweetness of the great joy that Emily has brought us.
Ba-ruch a-ta
Adonai, Eh-lo-hei-nu meh-lech ha-o-lam, bo-rei p’ri ha-ga-fen.
Blessed is the Eternal Ruler of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.
Blessing over the Bread:
Ba-ruch a-ta
A-do-nai, Eh-lo-hei-nu meh-lech ha-o-lam,
Ha-mo-tzi leh-chem
min ha-a-retz.
Blessed are You, O God, who brings forth bread from the Earth.
Benediction –
Rabbi:
May God bless you and guard you,
May the light of God’s Presence shine on you and be gracious to you
May the Presence of God lift you up
And give you a life of fulfillment
Contentment, wholeness and peace.
MAZEL TOV!