Lifecycles

The lifetime of a Jew is peppered with sacred personal occasions; celebrating these in a profoundly Jewish way helps to connect the individual and family with the Jewish tradition.

The first such occasion in a Jew’s life is circumcision, or Brit Milah, which is performed on the eighth day of life where possible. Circumcision has been practiced in the general populations of various countries for hygienic reasons, but in Jewish life it is practiced as a sign of the Covenant between G-d and the Jewish people.

Jewish Journeys does not yet have a traditional mohel (circumciser) to offer, but we can help you find one. Alternatively, our Rabbi can do the ceremony in tandem with a qualified physician of your choice, where the rabbi recites the ceremonial service and the physician does the actual procedure.

For a baby girl, it has become customary in our day to have an equivalent ceremony, called Simchat Bat (‘rejoicing in the daughter’), without the surgical procedure, to celebrate our daughters. Our rabbi is happy to travel to the location of your choice to perform this service and assist you in celebrating your baby girl’s arrival.

The next big event in the life of a Jew is bar mitzvah (for boys), or bat mitzvah (for girls). According to custom and Jewish law, boys celebrate their bar mitzvah sometime soon after their 13th birthday. For girls, in progressive communities it is done at/after 13, but in traditional communities it can be done as early as age 12.

The conventional route to preparing a child for bar/bat mitzvah is to join a congregation, enroll the child in their religion school program (usually at least three years before the projected date of the bar/bat mitzvah), and then tick all the boxes the congregation requires (for example, regular service attendance). But Jewish Journeys exists to serve the needs of the Jewish family in unconventional circumstances.  Perhaps you simply do not have a congregation in your city, or the congregation does not employ a qualified teacher/officiant.

We prepare your child for the transition to bar/bat mitzvah through a number of methods, depending on your location and availability of services and teaching in your vicinity. But for example, if you live in a place where there is no congregation or even a minyan (worship and fellowship group), we would work out a schedule where you and your child could travel to a minyan in a nearby city on a periodic basis. This would be supplemented by home observances. And of course education, delivered by a combination of correspondence and online video conferencing with periodic face-to-face sessions depending on your location. When it’s time for the Big Day, we can travel to your home for a special service in an appropriate venue of your choice, or arrange for it to happen elsewhere.

The next big Jewish event in a person’s life is usually marriage. Jewish tradition regards marriage as an important step in the growth and personal fulfilment of a young Jewish man or woman, but it is also a communal event for celebration. Today, with many Jews choosing marriage partners who are not Jewish, the preparation for a wedding can be a very stressful time. Jewish Journeys exists to help people make meaningful Jewish choices. For a ‘mixed’ couple who desire a Jewish wedding, we do not turn you down reflexively as does so much of the Jewish community. Rather, we welcome the opportunity to see if we can help you to celebrate your marriage in a meaningful, and joyous way.

It isn’t polite to talk about it, but unfortunately marriages sometimes do not last ‘till death do us part.’ Divorce is experienced by many in the Jewish community; when it does it is often tragic and painful but it should never be a cause for ostracism or shame. In the Jewish ethical universe, there is a right way to end your marriage, and we are here to assist you in adjusting to your new reality and putting the past behind you.

It also isn’t polite to talk about death, but it is the inevitable terminus of life, and the way station to the Next World. It is important for loved ones to say ‘goodbye’ in a way that is respectful, but also a celebration of the life the deceased led, of all the positive ways they affected those close to them. We are here to assist you with end-of-life arrangements, to say goodbye in a beautiful and meaningful way.

Finally, sometime after one’s death it is traditional to erect a monument as a visible reminder, an eternal symbol that the deceased was here. There are a variety of customs as to how much time should elapse before setting the stone: from one month to one year. Whatever your choice, we are here to help make this occasion a fitting tribute to the one thus remembered.

For assistance with any of these lifecycle occasions, please contact us to enquire.