Introduction
You’ve waited nine months for this day, and here it is.
This is a big day for you and your baby. The day that God chose to entrust in your hands a precious treasure. The day when God decided that the world would be incomplete without your child.
If we only consider the process of birth, we see the greatness of the Creator…
Why does the baby cry when he is born?
A Jewish soul, very holy and spiritual, is well off in the higher realms. Its descent down to our physical world, entering a body with needs like eating and sleeping, is foreign and even difficult for it. So why wouldn’t it cry?…
- Did the birth go smoothly? Is the baby healthy and whole? Thank God. But we should always also know how to express gratitude. Nothing should be taken for granted.
Thank God for what He did for you by adding good deeds or prayer. A more ‘official’ thanksgiving will be made later.
- The ‘Gomel’ blessing for the birth should be made only when the new mother has recovered. Approximately a month after the birth. It should be said in the presence of ten men or in the synagogue when there is a minyan (quorum) of worshippers. The blessing is: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who bestows good things upon the guilty, Who has granted me all good.”
After the Birth
From now on, as a new line is added to the identity card with the birth of the new heir, a few more things are added with him:
- Light an additional candle for him when you light Shabbat candles. It’s very worthwhile to light an additional candle (in addition to the 2 ‘regular’ candles) for each child born in the family. ‘His’ candle adds light to his life.
- It’s a nice custom to recite a Psalm for each family member according to his age (for a child aged 5 recite the sixth Psalm (Psalm 6). At 32, recite Psalm 33 and so on). Add the first Psalm in merit of the newborn.
Shifrah and Puah
Shifrah and Puah is a concept for an organization that helps new mothers after childbirth with everything they need. The aim of the organization is to show love to the expectant mother and express appreciation for bringing a new Jewish child into the world. This also encourages the woman to bring another child into the world, knowing that she is being taken care of and eased through the process. The concern also helps her with the pain of childbirth and the difficulty of raising the baby. The assistance can come in the form of help with preparing food, watching the baby, housekeeping and more.
The first ones to do so were two women whose names were ‘Shifrah’ and ‘Puah’. These were Miriam, Moses’s sister, and Yocheved his mother, who in the land of Egypt under the yoke of slavery cared for and midwifed the expectant mother and newborn. They managed a huge organization of hundreds of midwives and helpers, who birthed the millions of Jews born in ancient Egypt during slavery. No wonder that assistance organizations for expectant mothers are named after them to this very day…
