Family
Looking to enhance your family's spiritual life? On this page you will find articles about rituals and practices you can do with those you love.
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Celebrating Pregnancy…
According to a father-to-be: You have to wait for five minutes for the results on the testing device to appear. In these five minutes, my wife handed me the test and instructions and jumped under the blankets waiting for me to report the results. It was during the middle of Sukkot. So naturally, I prayed. As I prayed I held up the pregnancy test device as a lulav before me. I gently shook it in the six directions. I prayed for all those who seek fertility, and I prayed for us. Then I peeked. Yes!! I waved the test in the air, crawled under the covers, and whispered the good news.
According to the mother-to-be: When the doctor called to say I was pregnant, we wanted to keep the news a secret for a while. But the moment my our landlords, an elderly German-Jewish couple asked me what was new, I told them. They hugged me and hugged each other, saying, "There is mazal in our bed."
Meditation:
Oh God, I pray that our child will be healthy
I pray that I will be a good parent
I pray that I will be able to provide for this child
Oh God, let this baby be born!
Ritual:
Prepare a meal for a the parent-to-be, selecting from this rabbinic menu:
"One who eats eggs will have children with big eyes. One who eats fish will have
graceful children. One who eats parsley will have beautiful children. One who eats
coriander will have stout children. One who eats etrog will have fragrant
children. The daughter of King Shapur, whose mother had eaten etrog [while she
was pregnant] with her, used to be presented before her father as his principal perfume.
(TB Ketubot 61a)
Blessing:
Barukh atah…ha’tov v’ha meitiv.
Blessed are You whom we thank for this good news.
Teaching:
I entreat You, Lord, God of Israel, accept my prayer, just as You accepted the prayer
of our mother, Chanah, which she prayed for her son, Samuel. And may her merit assist me,
so that I, Your maidservant, may bear to full term this child that I now carry in my womb
– Your created – and that a healthy child may emerge. May my child be a pious
Jew, serving You with heart and soul, loving Torah and be in awe of heaven, according to
Your holy will. May my child be a beautiful seedling in the Jewish vineyard for the glory
of Yisrael. Amen.
(Tkhine: The Merit of Our Mothers)
"Within the first three days, pray that the seed remain viable…From the
fortieth day to three months, pray that it flourish. From three months to six months, pray
that it reach full term. From six months to nine months, pray for safe delivery."
(Adapted from Tractate Berakhot 60a)
(CLAL Faculty)
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