Simḥat Bat of Amalya Shaḥar Exler-Kaunfer
May 31, 2010 · 18 Sivan 5770

As Amalya enters the room, carried by her Savta Marcia Kaunfer, we’ll sing a niggun to welcome her.

Sabba (Grandpa):

Blessed are you to YHVH, my daughter. (Ruth 3:10)
 
Arise, shine, for your light has dawned. YHVH’s radiance shines upon you. (Isaiah 60:1)

Lisa:

But now, YHVH, You are our parent; we are the clay and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hands. (Isaiah 64:7)

Elie:

Let them praise YHVH for God’s steadfast love, God’s wondrous deeds for humankind. (Psalms 107:8)

Everyone:

Hodu l’Adonai ki tov, ki l’olam hasdo.
 
Praise YHVH for God is good; God’s steadfast love is eternal. (Psalms 118:1)

We will welcome Amalya into the brit (Jewish covenant) using a similar ritual to the one we created for her sister, Maytal. The ritual is based on the following text:

Exodus 24:3-8
 
Moses went and repeated to the people all the commands of YHVH and all the rules; and the people answered with one voice, saying, All the things that YHVH has commanded we will do! Moses then wrote down all the commands of YHVH. Early in the morning, he set up an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He designated some young men among the Israelites, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as offerings of well-being to YHVH. Moses took one part of the blood and put it in basins, and the other part of the blood he dashed against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, All that YHVH has spoken we will do and obey. Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people and said, This is the blood of the covenant that YHVH now makes with you concerning all these commands.

Based on this Biblical covenant ceremony, we fashioned the following ritual. In place of reading all the commands of God, we looked to a rabbinic text that indicates the essence of the Torah.

Babylonian Talmud Makkot 23b-24a
 
Rebbi Simlai expounded: 613 commandments were said to Moses….Micah the Prophet came and summed them up into three, as it is written (Micah 6:8): He has told you, O human, what is good and what YHVH requires from you: Only to do justice, to love lovingkindness and to walk modestly with your God.

In place of the blood of the slaughtered bulls from the covenantal ceremony in Exodus, we looked for another substance to effect the covenant ceremony. Amalya was born right after Shavuot, on which we have a tradition to eat dairy. In fact, milk itself is associated with the acceptance of Torah, as described in the following Midrash which quotes a verse from Song of Songs:

Song of Songs 4:11
 
Sweetness drops from your lips, O bride; honey and milk are under your tongue and the scent of your robes is like the scent of Lebanon.

Midrash Tanhuma Ki Tisa 9
 
Another interpretation of Honey and milk are under your tongue: At the moment that Israel stood before Mount Sinai and said, All that YHVH has spoken we will do and obey, at that moment, the Holy Blessed One said to them, Honey and milk are under your tongue.

The milk in this ritual serves two functions:
1) a tactile experience of entering the covenant, similar to the blood in Exodus 24: 3-8;
and 2) a symbol of the sweetness and nourishment that is associated with entering the covenant of Torah.
We pray that Amalya’s experience of Torah and Judaism will sustain her and bring her joy.

Sabba:

He took the book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people… (Exodus 24:7)

Lisa:

He has told you, O human, what is good and what YHVH requires from you: Only to do justice, to love lovingkindness and to walk modestly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

Everyone:

Kol asher diber Adonai na’aseh venishma
 
…All that God has spoken we will do and obey. (Exodus 24:7)

Elie (as Elie and Lisa put milk under Amalya’s tongue):

This is the blood of the covenant that YHVH now makes with you concerning all these commands. (Exodus 24:8)

Sabba:

Amalya Shaḥar, this little one, may she become great,

Everyone:

K’shem she-nichnesah labrit, kein tikanes letorah, u’lehuppah u’lema’asim tovim.
 
Just as she has entered the covenant, so may she enter a life of Torah, marriage, and good deeds.

Sabba:

May God, who blessed our mothers,
Sarah, Rebecca,
Rachel and Leah,
Miriam the prophet,
and Abigail,
and Queen Esther the daughter of Avichayil,
bless this delightful little girl,
Amalya Shaḥar, the daughter of Elie and Lisa,
at this favorable and blessed hour.
May she be raised in health, peace and tranquility.
May her father and mother merit to see her joy and her marriage,
sons and daughters,
prosperity and honor,
bringing fulfillment and refreshment to their old age.
May this be God’s will. Amen.

Lisa and Elie will speak about Amalya Shaḥar’s name.

We feel privileged and thankful to welcome Amalya into such a supportive and wonderful community. As we do so, we challenge ourselves to accept the responsibility to create a world in which all children are so fortunate. To that end, we are committing to giving tsedakah every year in Amalya’s honor. We hope that as she grows, she will join us in the process of allocating the tsedakah and in the larger project of tikkun olam, repairing the world.

Elie and Lisa will bless Amalya with the traditional blessing for children:

May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

May God bless you and keep you.
May God shine God’s face upon you and be gracious to you.
May God lift God’s face to you and grant you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

We conclude with a song that expresses our hope for blessings and peace for Amalya and the Jewish people.

Yevarechecha Hashem mitzion u’r’eh b’tuv Yerushalayim
Yevarachecha Hashem mitzion kol y’mei, y’mei hayecha.
U’r’eh vanim l’vanecha, Shalom al Yisrael.
U’r’eh vanim l’vanecha, Shalom al Yisrael.
 
May God bless you from Zion and may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
And may you live to see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel. (Psalms 128:5-6)

Please join us for a seudat mitsvah (festive meal) followed by a special birkhat hamazon (grace after meals) in honor of Amalya’s Simḥat Bat.

Leader:

Everyone:

Leader:

Everyone:

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