Mitzi Schwarz

Baby Naming

Name that baby!!

A family welcoming new life is the most precious, heart-stirring event that can occur. New life, new possibility, new joy, new adventures, new challenges; everything is NEW! It is so life- and soul-affirming to welcome this tiny new person into the community, into your community. Every religious tradition has a baby naming ceremony of one kind or another, be it the Brit Milah/Brit Shalom in Judaism, baptism in Christianity, Namkaran in the Hindu tradition, bringing flowers and incense as done in Buddhist traditions….. the ceremonies and rituals are as varied as the people who practice them.

Today many parents want to create new, not-necessarily-religious ways of celebrating the birth of their baby.  While some families may not pray to a specific god, they value the life of every human being, and they want to celebrate the arrival of the new life they’ve created. Ceremony and ritual are there to celebrate the new child and the love of the parents, and friends and relatives gather to offer good wishes and blessings for the child. Baby naming ceremonies may include but are by no means limited to readings of poetry and songs of celebration.

As an ordained Chaplain of Jewish descent, I certainly bring a wealth of knowledge and tradition to a Jewish baby naming ceremony. I am also quite comfortable and versed in helping your family create a baby-naming ceremony that is right for YOU, if you want a spiritual, or a spiritual-but-not-religious ceremony. LOVE is universal and is at the root of ALL traditions.

Let’s create a ceremony that is right for your family and for your new child. A ceremony that you will look fondly back on over the decades, and that will bring a smile to your lips and joy to your heart every time you recall the exquisite feelings of beauty, each time you think of the tenderness and love you put into naming your beautiful child.