Soc.Culture.Jewish Newsgroups Frequently Asked Questions and Answers URL: www.scjfaq.org/faq/21-01-07.html

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Question 21.1.7:
Entering the Covenant: But circumcision is only required for boys. What about girls?

Judaism does not practice female circumcision. However, there are many traditions that have arise related to the birth of a girl:

• Commonly, girls are welcomed into the convanent through a naming ceremony, held in the synagogue.

• Among Bucharan Jews when the father of the newborn girl is called to the Torah for the naming the congregation sing the song "Dror Ykra L'ven im Bat" in which each line ends with the word "bat". After the reading of the portion and the naming, candies are showered on the father and the congregation calls "Mazal Tov".

• Many Sephardim have a party where they repeat the naming. A Cohen is invited and he holds the baby and blesses her with the "Birkat Cohanim". Fruit which Israel was blessed for them are served, and the Rabbi of the community holds the baby girl on his knees and says the words from the Song of Songs "Yonati Bechagvei Haselah" (2:14): The ceremony is called "Zeved Ha'bat". The word Zeved means gift and comes from Berayshit 30:20 where Leah said at the birth of Zevulun "Hashem gave me a good present" and then she gave birth to Dina.

The more liberal movements have developed other ceremonies. There is an excellent book on the subject by Anita Diamant. Another good reference is Lifecycles Volume 1 : Jewish Women on Life Passages and Personal Milestones, which includes material from Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist contributors. It was edited by Debra Orenstein, and is available from Jewish Lights Publications in Vermont.

The Simchat Bat/ Brit Bat / Brit HaHayim is increasingly appearing in Modern Orthodoxy has well. A Simchat Bat ceremony is now in the Rabbinical Council of America's [Orthodox] Rabbi's manual. This ceremony is based on traditional Jewish forms.

The Rabbinical Assembly [Conservative] has included the Simchat Bat rite in its new rabbi's manual. As the ceremony is still evolving, the RA's manual presents, within a common religious ceremony, three options that parents may choose to perform: (A) Lighting seven candles (symbolizing the seven days of creation) and holding the baby towards them; (B) Wrapping the baby in the four corners of a tallit; (C) Lifting the baby and touching her hands to a Torah scroll. A detailed article on this topic can be found at: http://www.bnaibrith.org/ijm/articles/thnkhvn/.

The FAQ is a collection of documents that is an attempt to answer questions that are continually asked on the soc.culture.jewish family of newsgroups. It was written by cooperating laypeople from the various Judaic movements. You should not make any assumption as to accuracy and/or authoritativeness of the answers provided herein. In all cases, it is always best to consult a competent authority--your local rabbi is a good place to start.

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