Jewish Birth, Adoption & Circumcision

Alternatives to Brit Milah

Ceremony for families opting out of circumcision.
Bay Area
San Francisco

Brit Shalom Celebrants List
The Brit Shalom Celebrant List has now merged with Bruchim, a new Jewish nonprofit that advocates for the open inclusion of non-circumcising families in Jewish spaces. If you’re looking for an officiant for a Brit Shalom ceremony, please visit Bruchim’s Inclusion Directory.
http://www.bruchim.online
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Adoption & Infertility

East Bay

Hasidah
Voice of hope and compassion raising awareness of infertility; connecting people to support; helping to reduce financial barriers to treatment in the Jewish community.
http://www.hasidah.org
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North Bay
Bay Area

Adoption Connection
Provides support and services to adoptive parents and birthmothers during and after pregnancy. Full-service, nonprofit, licensed adoption agency and open adoption leader has assisted with over 3,000 adoptions since 1985. A division of Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.
http://www.adoptionconnection.org
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Bay Area Brit Milah (Circumcision)

The ritual of brit milah is performed to symbolize the covenant between God and the people of Israel. The brit (or bris) takes place on the eighth day of a male baby's life (provided there are no health problems). Traditionally, the brit is performed by a mohel, a ritual circumciser familiar with the relevant laws and customs.
East Bay

Stuart Avram Zangwill, M.D.
Performs spiritual, meaningful brit milah ceremonies for all affiliations and interfaith couples. Board certified in both pediatrics and pediatric hospital medicine with over 25 years experience performing circumcisions with anesthesia/pain control.
http://www.zmohel.com

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North Bay
Bay Area

Piser & Piser Mohelim
Practicing Bay Area urologist/hand surgeon; husband/wife mohelim team, trained and certified by Hebrew Union College; performing personalized, spiritually enlightening brit milah and hatafat dam brit (for previously circumcised converts) since 1991.
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Peninsula
San Francisco

Brit Shalom Celebrants List
The Brit Shalom Celebrant List has now merged with Bruchim, a new Jewish nonprofit that advocates for the open inclusion of non-circumcising families in Jewish spaces. If you’re looking for an officiant for a Brit Shalom ceremony, please visit Bruchim’s Inclusion Directory.
http://www.bruchim.online
Learn More

Brit Bat/Simchat Bat (Rejoicing for Daughter

The birth of a baby girl is traditionally marked in the synagogue when her father or parents are called to the Torah on the Sabbath to give the newborn her Hebrew name. The past decade has seen the development of various naming ceremonies for girls. In fact, there is a growing liturgy around the brit bat, and various alternative rituals have been proposed. This ritual is frequently performed on the eighth day of a baby girl’s life.

Pidyon Haben (First-born Redemption)

A pidyon haben, redemption of a son, takes place 30 days after the birth of a first-born baby boy. The tradition is based on the belief that first-born sons were to serve God in the Temple. To redeem them from that obligation, five shekels were given to the Temple priests, who then served in the Temple instead. The ceremony today usually involves a symbolic charitable donation.

Circumcision Alternatives

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