Chapter 1

By Steve Israel

To Chapter 3

Chapter Two - Birth Ceremonies and Life Beginnings

A: BACKGROUND

1. Introduction
2. What's In a Name?
3. Names and Us - Individual and Collective Identity
4. Names as Statements of Parental Identity
5. The Zionist Approach to Names
6. Summing Up the Name Game: Names, Identity and Jewish Continuity
7. Birth Ceremonies: Celebrating Boys…and (Almost) Celebrating Girls
8. The Cutting Edge Ceremony: Introducing the Brit Milah
9. Separating the Elements: The Brit and the Milah
10. Passover for the Ceremony? Those Who Oppose it and Those Who (Surprisingly) Retain it
11. What Does It Mean? The Ceremony and Its Symbolism
12. Personalizing the Ceremony: Parental Additions
13. What of the Women? Birth Ceremonies for Baby Girls
14. New-Old Rituals for Both Sexes
15. A Final Ceremony - And a Final Challenge: Redeeming the Firstborn - Pidyon HaBen
16. Final Words: The Power of Ritual and How to Retain It
    
    Printing Version

B- Text Section

1. Sources
2. G-d - Creating with Words and Names
3. Man Continues the Naming Tradition
4. a. One Person - Many Names?
   b. Continuing the Question
5. a. Using Names to Forge Identity: The Biblical Examples - Moses…
   b. …And Joseph
6. The Power of Names
7. Reflecting on a Name - Franz Rosenzweig
8. a. Covenanting - G-d and the World
   b. G-d and the Jews: Shabbat
   c. G-d and the Jews: Circumcision
9. Rejecting Circumcision - Rejecting Covenant?
10. a. The Role of Elijah: Part One - Elijah's End
    b. Part Two - Elijah and the Covenant
11. a. The Strange Story of Moses' Near Death
    b. The Traditional Explanation
12. The Perfection of the Body Through Circumcision
13. Popular Additions to the Brit Milah & Popular Elements in the Ceremony for a Girl
    a. Torah
    b. Blessings
    c. Midrash
    d. Talmud
14. An Ancient Birth Ceremony - A Basis for Renewal?
15. a. Redeeming the Firstborn - Stage One: The Sanctification of Firstborn Sons
    b. Stage Two: The Transition to the Levites
    c. Stage Three: The Redemption of the Firstborn
16. The Brit Milah Ceremony

C - Activities

1. Naming [Sections 1 – 6]
2. How Many Names? [Section 3]
3. Father Moses [Sections 4,6]
4. Covenanting [Sections 9 – 11]
5. Choosing Circumcision [Section 9]
6. Elijah’s Chair [Section 11]
7. What of the Girls? [Section 13]
8. Elaborating [Section 14]
9. That Wonderful Wimple [Section 14]

D - Bibliography