Last night Darren, David and I gathered with our parents to participate in a Jewish ritual known as a pidyon haben. It is believed that every first-born child who is male belongs to God, and his parents should “redeem” him by making a symbolic payment. We had a short ceremony facilitated by our rabbi to commemorate this tradition. David was a good boy while Darren and I recited some special prayers and Darren exchanged five silver coins for our baby.
For those that have never heard of a pidyon haben, below is some information I found on this Jewish ritual.
First-Born Sons Belong to God
When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, God took the life of every first-born Egyptian and spared the first-born of every Israelite. As a commemoration of this event, God said “the first issue of every womb among the Israelites is Mine” (Exodus, 13:2). Thus, first-born sons were sanctified and obligated to serve in the Temple.
When the Israelites, but not the Levites (descendents of Jacob’s son Levi), sinned with the Golden Calf, God told Moses that He would take Levites in place of first-born. Thus, Levites became obligated to assist the priests and serve in the Temple.
Nevertheless, first-born were still considered to be sanctified and still needed to be redeemed. According to the Bible, “you shall have the first-born of man redeemed…. Take as their redemption price, from the age of one month up, the money equivalent of five shekels…” (Numbers, 18:15-16).
First-Born Sons Redeemed by Parents
Observant Jews hold a Pidyon HaBen ceremony for first-born sons when the baby is at least one month old. The ritual is usually performed on the 31st day after the birth (counting the day of birth as the first day). If the 31st day falls on Shabbat or a holiday, then the ritual is delayed.
Pidyon HaBen is only held if all of the following are true about the male baby:
- He is the first-born child of his mother.
- His parents are neither Kohanim or Levites.
- He was born in natural childbirth (not via C-section).
- His mother did not previously have a miscarriage after more than 40 days of pregnancy.
The child is redeemed via a symbolic payment to a Kohen. In biblical times the payment equalled five silver shekels. Today, the payment is generally five silver dollars or a small article of silver.
During a Pidyon HaBen ceremony, the father recites two blessings. The first praises God for commanding the redemption and the second, Shechiyanu, thanks God for giving them life and bringing them to this time. The father then hands the money to the Kohen. The Kohen holds the money over the baby’s head and says, “This instead of that, this in commutation for that and this in remission for that.” Then he prays for the child and recites the traditional priestly prayer. A festive meal (seudat mitzvah) is often held following the ceremony.
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