In Jewish legal literature, the
Zeved Habat event is cited as either taking place in the synagogue Some Jewish communities have the custom of waiting until the mother has recovered and can enter the synagogue for the ceremony to take place. Some Jews have the custom to hold the
Zeved Habat ceremony on the first Shabbat from the birth. The Hebrew word
zeved is understood to be a somewhat rare word and appears just once in the
Pentateuch in where
Leah offers thanks to God for the birth of
Zebulon. The Hebrew word used in the verse may mean "gift" or "dwelling". The custom is for a verse from
Song of Songs to be recited. And if the newborn is also the firstborn child, the custom is for an added verse of Song of Songs to be recited. Following this recitation, a
Mi sheberakh blessing is recited (see text below) which includes the namegiving prayer. According to the
Chabad Hasidic custom, it is preferable for the newborn girl to be named at the earliest possible Torah reading in the synagogue (whether on Monday, Thursday, Shabbat or other day which include a public Torah reading), however, other customs are also cited such as those who wait until the Shabbat when a greater celebration may occur and the Sephardi custom of
Zeved Habat. According to Rabbi
Shlomo Ganzfried (1804-1886), in terms of the
aliyah for the father of a newborn girl, preference is given to the one whose wife (the mother of the newborn) comes to the synagogue. The Ashkenz
mi sheberach includes the following: The contemporary
Simchat Bat ceremony has become an accepted custom among
modern-Orthodox Jews of Ashkenazi background as an adaptation of the
Zeved Habat ritual. The uniqueness of the ceremony is that it may be presented as non-traditional and female-focused, in which women play a role alongside men. One possibility for this acceptance of the
Simchat Bat in modern Orthodox Judaism is that it is a ceremony with no major Jewish legalistic (
halakhic) implications and which does not intrude upon male ritual space. In the modern Orthodox ceremony, a number of additional elements are added to the traditional
Zeved Habat ceremony including the public sharing of a Torah lesson (
dvar Torah) often by the parent or a friend, readings about female biblical figures, and an explanation of the name chosen for the newborn. The child may also be given both an ‘English’ and a ‘Jewish’ name (either a Hebrew or Yiddish name). Additionally, in the
Simchat Bat ceremony, there is greater opportunity for women (such as the birth mother) to participate in the ceremony ritual. A
Simchat Bat celebration may consist of a communal welcoming, a naming done over a cup of wine with the quotation of appropriate Biblical verses, and traditional blessings. In the
Ashkenazi community,
name ceremonies for newborn girls were not widespread and often limited to the father announcing the baby's name in the synagogue on the
Shabbat, Monday, Thursday or other occasion when the
Torah would be
read following the birth. Sometimes a
kiddush will be held at the synagogue for family and friends. Although ceremonies can be found in Ashkenazic sources. Rabbi
Yacov Emden includes a text in his famous prayer book.
Hollekreisch ceremony In medieval times, girls were named during
shavua habat (). In early German Jewish communities, a baby naming ceremony was developed for both girls and boys called a
Hollekreisch (possibly meaning 'secular shout', or relating to the mythical
Frau Holle The ritual took place after Shabbat lunch. The babies were dressed up, and boys were draped in a
tallit. The book of
Vayikra (Leviticus) was placed in the crib. The crib would then be lifted up and the following recited in
German: "Hollekreisch! How shall the baby be called? So-and-so So-and-so So-and-so (i.e. his or her name three times)." Nuts, sweets and fruits were then distributed to the guests. The custom applied to both boys (who had already received their Hebrew names at their
brit mila) and girls. This ceremony was widely observed in Jewish circles in
Germany as early as the 14th century. In the 17th century this custom was observed in naming boys and girls only in
South Germany, while in
Austria,
Bohemia,
Moravia and
Poland it was not used for boys, and only rarely for girls. ==New ceremonies==