Brit Milah/Bris Milah
Birth ceremonies for boys and girls are different in the Jewish tradition. Both boys and girls have a "naming ceremony" but the boys also have a more formal rite called circumcision.
Girls: Traditionally the father of a Jewish baby girl would announce the name of his daughter in the synagogue about a month after she was born. The girl and her mother could be present although they often were not. Nowadays it is more common for the service to take place in the synagogue a few days rather than a month after the baby is born.
Boys: The ritual for boys is much more complicated and elaborate. After a boy child has been born a blessing is said and eight days later the child will be presented for the ceremony of circumcision. This may take place in the synagogue or in the home, or at the hospital. This is a very important ceremony and the only reason for delaying it is if the child is ill. The boy will be placed on the lap of the sandek (the counterpart of a Christian godparent). It is a great honor to be asked to perform this service. The circumcision is performed by the mohel, who may be a doctor but does not have to be. The circumcision of boys is a sign of the covenant that God agreed with Abraham.
After the ceremony the Father will recite the following blessing:
"Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the Universe, who sanctified us with his Mitzvah and commanded us to enter my son into the covenant of Abraham"
Those present will respond with the prayer:
"As he has been entered into the covenant may he come to study the Torah, enter into a marriage worthy of they blessing and live a life of good deeds"
After the ceremony a kiddush is said:
"Blessed are you Lord our God, king of the Universe who creates the fruit of the vine." Wine is drunk and a few drops are given to the baby. The boy child is then named and every one goes to the Seudat Mitzvah which is Hebrew for the "feast of the fulfilment of a commandment"
When a boy or girl are named they are given two names: a special or Holy name which will be in Hebrew, and an ordinary or everyday name which would normally reflect the country that they lived in.
What does circumcision mean?
A baby becomes a Jew because he has a Jewish mother and not because he is circumcised. There are two important things that circumcision means:
- The baby receives his father's blessing, and since the time of Abraham this has always been very important
- The baby become "religiously" clean and is welcomed into membership of God's chosen race.
The 'sign' in his flesh will constantly remind him of this.
"God said further to Abraham ........ every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you"
Genesis 17:9-11
Brit milah (Hebrew: בְרִית מִילָה [bə'rīt mī'lā] literally: "covenant [of] circumcision"), also berit milah (Sephardi), bris milah (Ashkenazi pronunciation) is a religious ceremony within Judaism that welcomes infant Jewish boys into a covenant between God and the Children of Israel through ritual circumcision performed by a mohel ("circumcisor") in the presence of family and friends, followed by a celebratory meal (seudat mitzvah).
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Info for Stepney Limousine Service
The Stepney Town Green, originally called Birdsey's Plain, after Joseph Birdsey who settled in the area around 1780, is in the heart of Upper Stepney and is the only green in Monroe owned and maintained by the town today. Originally the site of militia drills, the green quickly grew in size and importance during the nineteenth century, and in 1817 it was set aside as a "place of parade" for "publik use." This "parade" ground officially became Monroe's "second" town green. (The town at that point already had one green at Monroe Center, which was established in 1784 with land donated by Captain Joseph Moss and Nehemiah DeForest. Today that green is owned and maintained by the two churches that face it: Monroe Congregational Church and St. Peter's Episcopal Church.)
In 1839 the Stepney Methodist Church was built on Pepper Street. A decade later local Baptists constructed the Stepney Baptist Church on Main Street, which was a near duplicate of the Methodist Church directly across the road. Because of their structural similarities, the two were referred to as "sister churches," or the "twin churches," by those in the community. In 1973 the Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement acquired the former Stepney Methodist Church (which was relocated to Cutler's Farm Road) and transformed it into Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel, where the traditional Latin Mass is still celebrated today.
Presently the green is bordered by an antique store and other quaint retail shops, the two churches, and a cemetery where an apparition called the "White Lady" has often appeared. The Stepney Green is a piece of history nestled in Upper Stepney, which many residents feel should be preserved for generations to come.
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