Rituals

What life rituals do people of the Jewish religion practice?

Birth:

v  The baby boy is the center of the brit milah. (Covenant of circumcision). The ritual removal of the foreskin enacted in with Genesis 17:10. The ceremony takes place on the eighth day of the baby boy’s life. A parallel naming ceremony for infant girls is known as brit hayyim (covenant of life or brit bat (covenant of daughter). This occurs on the eighth day of life.

Adulthood:

v  At age 13, a Jewish male marks his entering into the community as an adult during his bar mitzvah (son of the commandment). The female counterpart is known as a bat mitzvah (daughter of the commandment), and can be held for girls at the age of 12.

Marriage:

v  The Jewish marriage ceremony is known as the kiddushin (sanctification). It takes place underneath a wedding canopy called a huppah, and incorporates the ritual of breaking a glass under their foot to remind themselves of a sad event of Jewish history when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E.

Death:

v  Funeral observances in the Jewish tradition follow distinct guidelines that vary depending on the denomination of Judaism in question. (Reform Jews permit cremation, while Jews of most of the other traditions observe injunctions against the practice.)

These rituals are very important to the Jewish religion; these rituals help them remember the history of their faith.