Living Jewish Life Cycle: How to Create Meaningful Jewish Rites of Passage at Every Stage of Life Book

Introduction vii

1 Tradition and Transition: The Evolution and Jewish Rites of Passage 1

2 Helping Holiness Happen: Jewish Weddings of Almost Every Kind 18

3 Loving and Leaving: Jewish Rituals and Practices for When Relationships End 68

4 Babies: Longing, Breathing, Loss, Birth, and/or Adoption and Options 77

5 Belonging and Becoming: Ceremonies of Welcome, Naming, Covenant, and Blessing 106

6 Creating a Meaningful and Memorable Adult or Adolescent Bar/Bat Mitzvah 157

7 Expanding Jewish Ritual Support for the Many Stages of Adulthood 190

8 Leaving Life: Dying, Death, Burial, Mourning, and Memorial 207

Appendix 1 The Legacy of Your Footprint: Caring for the Environment on Your Special Day 251

Glossary 254

Suggestions for Further Reading and Learning 262

Acknowledgments 273

Index 277