When little Jewish boys are born they have a brit milah or bris (the ceremony in which the baby is circumsized) 8 days after they are born. In modern times, little girls have a brit bat or baby naming ceremony in which the baby girl is welcomed into the world with blessings and given a Hebrew Name. Unlike for the boys, the girl ceremony was created in modern times and therefore doesn't have a strict timeline for when it occurs. Since the Rabbi that married us was on sabbatical the whole summer, we held Chloe's Ceremony on September 11th. It is a day that we will never forget, but now it has new meaning for us. It was a whirlwind of an event--trying to keep a 3 month old quiet until her portion of the ceremony came. We were called to the front where the Rabbi gave Chloe blessings and then announced her Hebrew Name--Sarah. Ami and I then read a letter that we wrote to Chloe. Her hebrew name is Sarah because in the bible Sarai's name is changed to Sarah. We also liked the name because Sarah is one of the matriarch's of Judiasm and there is a blessing for daughters that says--May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. May God bless you with the strength and vision of Sarah, with the wisdom and foresight of Rebecca, with the courge and campassion of Rachel, with gentleness and graciousness of Leah and with their faith in the promise of our people's heritage. We further gave Chloe this name in honor of all the strong women in her life. She was lucky to have two great-grandmas watching her on this day. Great Grandma Elizabeth and Great Grandma Arlene who was in town for my cousin's wedding.
The night proved to be exhausting and we couldn't take pictures in the Scantuary of Temple Emanuel and then we completely forgot to take any pictures before and after. So yes we did redress Chloe in her special outfit and the rest are from Grandma Anna.
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