Is there a Jewish naming ceremony for girls?

Factual Questions
1

Recently, I attended a naming ceremony for my 1st cousin once removed (that’s my first cousin’s son) who was 2 1/2 at the time, where he received his grandfather’s Jewish name. His grandfather had passed away about 1 year before. This ceremony was done in a Reform temple. Notably, my first cousin is Jewish, and his wife is Serbian Orthodox, making the kid not quite Jewish.

Now my mom wants to know if she can hold such a ceremony for my daughter, who she want named after my daughters great-grandmothers (both of whom are long deceased). So her Hebrew name (or Jewish name?) would be Esther-Gitel, for her great-grandmothers Elaine and Gussie. My mom thinks that if me and my wife just announce that this is her Hebrew name, than it’s done, but a ceremony would be nice too.

First off, my daughter is 5.

Secondly, her mother is Catholic.

Thirdly, I’m about as Jewish as much as my wife is Catholic, which is to say, we are now completely unobservant practically godless heathens, although I was raised Conservative and Bar Mitzvahed at the Wailing Wall. (Just trying to give all the facts.)

However, both I and my wife think it’s a nice idea in terms of a family tradition (we haven’t checked with my daughter yet to see what she thinks of all this :slight_smile: ), it would please my Mom no end (and I would really be Honoring My Mother and Father, which is a good thing) and what the hey, it’s a nice reason to get everyone together for a celebration.

First off, do they even have naming ceremonies for girls? My mom seems to think that they only have naming ceremonies for boys when they have their briss.

Second, can they do it if the girl is already 5?

Third, can they do it if the girl’s mother isn’t Jewish, and the father is only Jewish by birth, training, and heritage?

(And by they, I would assume that it would be a Reform service, as I doubt that a Conservative temple would do this.)

Fourth, and finally, would I have to become a member of the temple, or would a nice contribution to their ________ Fund (let them fill in the blank) be acceptable? And what would something like this cost?

Are CMKeller or Zev or some of our other resident scholars out there?

2

It’s often been remarked how ironic this is that so many of these OPs about Jewish religious practices are posted on Fridays or Saturdays when our observant Jewish dopers are off the boards!

I’ll try to fill in on some of the basics:
jgroub: *This ceremony was done in a Reform temple. Notably, my first cousin is Jewish, and his wife is Serbian Orthodox, making the kid not quite Jewish. *

According to most interpretations of Jewish law, your first cousin’s son is not Jewish, because his mother isn’t Jewish. (Same like me.) According to the Reform branch, if at least one of his parents is Jewish and they plan to bring him up following Jewish practices, then he is Jewish.

And yes, it is common to conduct a naming ceremony for a Jewish girl, either in the home or in the temple. But I don’t think your daughter would be considered Jewish even by Reform Jews, going by your professed lack of involvement in Jewish practices.

3

:smack:

:wally

You’re right! See how Jewish I am? I forgot it was the Sabbath already! ;j

So what are you doing here? :wink:

I already knew that no one but the Reforms (Reformers?) would consider my daughter (and my cousin’s son) Jewish due to that whole “mom must be Jewish” thing. But are you sure about that non-observant stuff making her ineligible? Since I was raised conservative, I don’t know squat about Reform. I searched their website for “naming ceremonies” and came up empty.

Thanks again. I will bump this thread up on Monday.

4

jgroub: * I searched their website for “naming ceremonies” and came up empty. *

Here you go, for girl naming ceremonies in general:

5

Thanks for the link to about.com. I always just search with google. That’ll learn me.

6

Just chiming in (as one of the dopers referenced in the message above) to state that that about.com link is correct - in Orthodox Jewish tradition, girls names are conferred during the Torah reading in the synagogue.

The Kiddush (collation? Sounds like we’re running documents through a copy machine! A Kiddush is a PARTY!) does not necessary follow immediately. Usually the baby is named within a week of her birth, and the kiddush is usually made some time after the baby is a month old, or even longer…purely at the convenience of the parents, not mandated in any way by Jewish law.

7

BUMP - to allow others celebrating the Sabbath when I posted this Friday evening a chance to weigh in.

8

As others have mentioned, there is no formal naming ceremony for a girl. The custom has been to call the new father up to the Torah either the next time it is read (or the following Sabbath) and give the new baby her name there.

Age, generally, should not be an issue, but I can’t think of a reason why it should be done so late. If one is adopting a baby who is Jewish, then the child should have a Hebrew name already. If the child is not Jewish, she should get a Jewish name at her conversion ceremony. If she’s not Jewish and not converting, then why does she need a Hebrew name?

I would advise against it. The girl is not Jewish. By giving her a Hebrew name, it may well cause confusion down the road as to whether or not she is actually Jewish (you’d be surprised how often vital family information fails to be properly recorded…)

I’m almost 100% positive that no Conservative Rabbi would officiate at such a ceremony. (I’m more than 100% positive that no Orthodox Rabbi would). You would have to consult a Reform Rabbi for the answer to your question as they have a wide lattitude as to what they will and will not do (in a religious sense).

That would be up to the officiant.

Zev Steinhardt

9

Thanks cm and Zev, I hoped you guys would come through and you did. I appreciate it. Also, many thanks to Kimstufor the about.com link.

I think the real problem here is that my daughter is fully aware of my thoughts about the existence of god and will call me out on it during any “ceremony.” Which would be embarrassing to say the least. She doesn’t let me get away with anything! I guess that’s what comes of being raised by 2 lawyers.

This only occurred to me after my mom asked me how I felt about a ceremony. That got me to thinking about how my daughter would feel about it. If we had done it a few years ago, it would not have mattered. Now, she’s definitely old enough to call me out for the hypocrite that I am.

I’ll tell my mom that we’ll have our own “ceremony” without the rabbi at home. Light a candle, have some wine, some pastries, some chopped liver, who knows.

Consider this thread closed, and a job well done. Thanks again.

10

We had a small baby naming ceremony for my daughter. My wife and I are nonpracticing, but we did it for the family. A Reform rabbi oversaw the formalities. We gave her her Hebrew name (Roni) after my wife’s father (Ronald). Her English name is Veronica (true image of Christ!), we call her Ronnie. I picked Veronica because when she is elected president, she needs a proper girl’s name.

There were some stock prayers, some brunchy food, and a baby. We did it at about 2 months. My wife made a small speech about her father, who passed away when she was 16. Basically #2 in the post by Kimstu.

The only ones I have been to are for infants.

11

Yes, there are a number of ceremonies of different names, depending on the origin of the community. Jewish of Sephardic Descent celebrate a Zeved HaBat (which means gift of girl) and in recent years the Simchat Bat (Happiness of girl) ceremony has become very popular. For more information on Simchat Bat you can see http://www.yourjewishspeech.com , they write excellent personalized speeches for Jewish occasions (I was very happy to use their service) and also have a lot of excellent resources.