Jewish tradition offers many opportunities to mark time — the holidays remind us of nature’s seasonal calendar, and lifecycle events mark the stages from birth to death. Among other things, Jewish ritual is explicitly about creating passageways to the future, as well as crafting memories to cherish.
Baby-naming ceremonies, especially for girls, offer a new opportunity to mark time and to create tangible memories to last a lifetime. At my daughter’s naming ceremony, family members were asked to bring a gift that reflected both something about the giver and wishes or blessings to take Sara through childhood. The gifts were placed in a treasure-chest — a sort of time capsule — that was sealed away deep in the recesses of our cluttered closet, awaiting a child-turned-young adult to reveal its dreams.
Some of the gifts that family members brought were funny — my younger brother contributed a Meatloaf CD, remarking that I had listened to Meatloaf incessantly in my teens. A note attached advised Sara to use the CD as a sort of trump card, should her parents complain about her anticipated teenage passion for loud music.
Some of the gifts were moving — my stepfather brought his father’s Torah yad (pointer) and expressed hopes that Sara would have a childhood filled with the gifts of Torah.
Some of the gifts were poignant; my 70-year-old father wrote a letter to Sara in which he told her about his life and expressed hopes that he would indeed be able to witness her becoming a bat mitzvah.
And some of the gifts were downright odd — my mother-in-law contributed a Mickey Mouse ashtray that her mother used to store her medication.
You can adapt this ceremony to any moment you want to mark as a family. For example, you can create a time capsule on your son’s bar mitzvah and open it at his wedding. A couple can contribute one item to a time capsule each year on the Hebrew date of their anniversary. Or next Passover ask family members to bring something to the seder that represents their prayers for peace. Seal these away until there is peace in the world. The possibilities are endless, and ensure that the memories will last forever.