Baby namings

January 25, 2010 - 11:43 AM by Jessica

My weekend began and ended with babies, not my own, but two friends’ newborns, one who had his brit on Friday morning, and the other who had her simchat bat on Saturday night.

Both ceremonies took place on the eighth day after their respective births, although there was, of course, no clipping included in the simchat bat ceremony.

What did strike me were the unique similarities and dissimilarities between the two events. Sure, they were both religious ceremonies, held by two religiously observant families who take this kind of thing seriously. The mothers were both proud and weepy, exhausted and thankful, given that this was a second baby for both, and each have an active toddler to take care of as well.

But there were differences as well. The brit followed a more traditional pattern, with the clipping, naming and usual jokes of the mohel, who clips at least three-quarters of the baby boys in southern Jerusalem. The menu was bagels and cream cheese, coffee and cake.

At the simchat bat, the ceremony was more creative by definition, given that there still isn’t a set ceremony for girl babies, which allows for more creativity on the part of the parents. Both sets of grandparents spoke, as well as the parents, and the aunts and uncles had roles as well, offering blessings and quotes for the new baby. The menu? Cakes and cookies, strawberries and cream and fresh mint for one’s cup of tea.

And then there were the names. For the boy baby, Ilan Leib; Ilan for tree, given the proximity of his birthday to Tu B’shvat, the birthday for the trees, being celebrated next Saturday, January 30. And Leib for the baby’s paternal grandfather, who died last May.

For the girl, Amit Adva, named for her maternal grandfather who died this summer. His name was Moshe, but he was called Buddy by many, and so they called her Amit, which means friendly and faithful, the most obvious traits of her grandfather.

And now there are two more people in the world, small people at this point, but with names and families and generations who have come before them. They’re nine and ten days old, but they already have histories, and they haven’t yet emerged from their cocoon of feeding and sleeping and crying. I’m thinking that’s something to contemplate.

Share with others