Pidyon Ha'Ben | Imamother

Motek

Mon, Nov 29 2004, 3:46 pm

has anybody here made a Pidyon Ha'Ben?

Quote:

The first and best of all things belong to G-d. This is true even of the firstborn of children. Originally, it was intended that the firstborn would serve as the priests and Temple functionaries of Israel; however, after the incident of the Golden Calf, in which the tribe of Levi did not participate, G-d chose the tribe of Levi over the firstborn for this sacred role. This is explained in Num. 8:14-18. However, even though their place has been taken by the Levites, the firstborn still retain a certain degree of sanctity, and for this reason, they must be redeemed.

The ritual of redemption is referred to as pidyon ha-ben, literally, Redemption of the Son.

A firstborn son must be redeemed after he reaches 31 days of age. Ordinarily, the ritual is performed on the 31st day (the day of birth being the first day); however, the ritual cannot be performed on Shabbat because it involves the exchange of money. The child is redeemed by paying a small sum (five silver shekels in biblical times; today, usually five silver dollars) to a kohein (preferably a pious one familiar with the procedure) and performing a brief ritual. This procedure is commanded at Num. 18:15-16.

The ritual of pidyon ha-ben applies to a relatively small number of Jews. It applies only to the firstborn male child if it is born by natural childbirth. Thus, if a female is the firstborn, no child in the family is subject to the ritual. If the first child is born by Caesarean section, the ritual does not apply to that child (nor, according to most sources, to any child born after that child). If the first conception ends in miscarriage after more than 40 days' term, it does not apply to any subsequent child. It does not apply to members of the tribe of Levi, or children born to a daughter of a member of the tribe of Levi.

http://www.sichosinenglish.org.....6.htm

Pickle Lady

Tue, Nov 30 2004, 1:37 am

We had one too. My son was born Purim which meant his pidyon haden was the first day of chol moed PESACH because it could not be on Yontif. So we had shailas. We finally got silver coins, which wasn't easy. It was easier to find a cohain than the coins. We made a lovely Pesachdik feast afterwords. My non religious family had no idea what it was and how special it was, we tried to explain it to them.

Last edited by Pickle Lady on Tue, Nov 30 2004, 8:08 am; edited 1 time in total

Motek

Tue, Nov 30 2004, 10:32 am

A widely known legend is that the Vilna Gaon, a first born, would seek out pedigreed Kohanim to perform a pidyon - redemption for him. Upon finding a "Rapaport" to perform the ceremony, he was satisfied that he had successfully accomplished the mitzvah.

see more about this here (it's interesting!):

http://www.cohen-levi.org/jewi.....s.htm

micki

Thu, Dec 09 2004, 8:38 am

it depends on how far along you were into the first preg. you have to ask a rav for the exact ammount of time cause I know one lady who miscarried at 3 months, and just never did a pidyon haben. then later when the boy was 3 they found out they were supposed to do one so they did it then.
I too had a mis first and asked a question but they told me to ask again after the baby was born. it was a girl.
so you have to ask.

RachelSteph

Sun, Dec 12 2004, 10:40 pm

I made one for my son and it was really nice I think it was the first one in my family since my sister came first and my brother is my twin. and my dads side doesn't count since he converted. as for my husband I think they had one for my husband but I'm not sure. It was really nice and my family really enjoyed it plus our Cohen was a friend of the family and it was his first time partaking in one so her was honored to do it. It was a beautiful day and we did it out side. It was really special!

klotzkashe

Wed, Dec 29 2004, 5:37 am

we've got our pidyon haben coming up in two weeks iyh. it falls out on a friday and we have to make sure that benching is over before chatzos - aren't we therefore lucky that we live in australia where shabbos comes in after 8pm bc of the summer and chatzos is after 1:30pm or so?
we're making a smallish affair of the pidyon haben as we had a massive bris. any suggestions for some nice brunch/lunch types of foods that are relatively inexpensive and easy to prepare but great for the pallate?

avigayil

Wed, Dec 29 2004, 9:31 am

We also made one.
My family didn't come though as I am a ger and they just didn't get it.
I was amazed at how many of our ffb friends did come who had never been to one before.

We did have shailos though because they used forceps on me (Yossi was quite content where he was Smile

.
There is an opinion that if forceps are used, depending on where the child was in the uterus, no pidyon haben is required.

It was a very moving experience for all of us though.

RachelSteph

Wed, Dec 29 2004, 11:38 pm

Whenever I have a party I always make Couscous, because you can buy it in a large amount for a little cost and make a lot. It's filling and easy to make, especially if you have a really large Bowl that won't melt with the heat. We find it cheap to make here. Just pour your Veggie soup or chicken soup over the couscous and cover the bowl with a table cloth or big towel to keep the heat in for 10 to 20 minutes, check it to see if it's light and fluffy, if it's not then add more soup. Oh and make sure to stir so the grains don't stick or clump together. And that’s it. It can be eaten alone or with some cinnamon and surger mixture sprinkled on top.

Pearl

Tue, Feb 01 2005, 8:50 am

mazzal tov!
Probably not original, but here are some simple ideas: cold cuts, egg salad, tuna salad, vegtable salad (israeli style), maybe a cold pasta salad? (pasta + fried pine nuts + dried tomato + black olives + garlic + olive oil)

We didn't have a pedion haben, but we did have a zohar the night before the bris. We had humus, and more real israeli salads, and cold cuts. Because with all the stress etc you want to keep it simple, but tasty!