Beliefs & Practices

The customary quorum of 10 represents the community and its obligations to the child.

Overview of Liturgy, Ritual & Customs for baby ceremonies.

Do justice, baby!

Questions and answers about the ethics of circumcision.

Naming may have heavenly significance.

A covenant ceremony welcomes a child into the community of humanity as a developing moral agent, responsible for working to perfect the world.

Why mark a newborn's arrival?

The philosophers and mystics of the Middle Ages suggested an array of solutions to the problem of suffering.

At Sinai, the Israelites pledged their allegiance to God and accepted the punishments that would result if they betrayed God.

Sometimes there is a conflict between the mandate to save lives and the mandate to avoid health risks.

Jewish views on organ donation are overridden by a single halakhic (legal) concept: pikuach nefesh—the Jewish obligation to save lives.

After learning the results of an experiment involving a decapitated sheep, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach decided to permit organ donations.