Jewish and Intercultural Life Cycle Events: Welcoming Services

Rabbi Jack B. Silver, MSW, Ph.D., Certified Madrikh, Humanistic Life-Cycle Celebrant

Jewish and Intercultural
Life-Cycle Events

Jack B. Silver

Baby Welcoming Services | Weddings | Bar and Bat Mitzvahs | Memorial Services | Counseling Services

Baby Welcoming Services

Jews have practiced baby-naming services for centuries.

Humanistic Judaism offers alternative methods for welcoming new baby boys and girls into their family and as members of the Jewish people:

Brit Shalom is a ceremony designed for male Jewish babies who are not circumcised. It can be scheduled either for the 8th day following birth, or another date that is more convenient for the family.

Simchat Bat is a ceremony designed to welcome a baby girl into her family and as a member of the Jewish people.

Simchat Ben is a ceremony designed for a baby boy who has been non-ritually circumcised (i.e. by a doctor) to be welcomed into the family and as a member of the Jewish people.

Each service with Jack B. Silver is individually planned.

Humanistic Jews believe that male and female children should be treated equally; that children of intermarried couples should have equal status, no matter which parent is Jewish; that the decision about circumcision is a personal one and any procedures should be done privately; and that the purpose of the birth celebration is to name the baby and publicly welcome it into the Jewish community.

Rabbi Jack B. Silver is a Madrikh/Vegvayzer certified by the International Institute of Secular Humanistic Judaism. He received rabbinic ordination from the Rabbinical Seminary International.