B’nai Abraham’s
new religious leader takes part in rare ceremony
Brian
Mono
Jewish Exponent staff
Dressed in a white jump suit, Menachem Mendel Goldman lay quietly on a
silver tray,
surrounded by bags of sugar and garlic and covered in women’s
jewelry.
Already a pro at public ceremonies, the 31-day-old son of Rabbi Yochonon
and Leah
Goldman did not shed a tear or let out a shriek as flash bulbs
burst around him and
congregants pushed forward to get a closer look.
The Goldmans — the new religious leaders of Congregation B’nai Abraham in
Center
City — had brought their newborn son to the synagogue on the morning
of Feb. 11 to
fulfill the mitzvah of pidyon haben, redemption of the first
born.
In Jewish tradition, the rabbi explained to the congregation, such a male
child belongs to
God, for God passed over the Jewish homes in Egypt when he
slew the Egyptian firstborn
males. Quoting Numbers 18:16, he said that such
a child must be redeemed from a Cohane,
or priest, who is God’s
representative at the ceremony, with five shekels — at least 100
grams of
silver.
Leah Goldman was all smiles during a conversation before the ceremony,
quite unlike a
worried mother before a circumcision. “Well, now I’m up and
around,” she said, noting that
at her son’s brit milah she was still
recovering from the birth.
She explained that to warrant a pidyon haben, a child must be a firstborn
son of a mother
who has not previously miscarried a fetus after three
months (or, according to some
authorities, 40 days); he must be more than
30 days old; his birth must be natural — not a
Caesarean section; and sons
of the daughters of Cohanim and Levites are exempt.
Given the stringent requirements, as well as some general ignorance, the
ceremony is quite
rare. Even the boy’s grandmother, Rochel Goldman, could
not recall attending a pidyon
haben in about 25 years, since her own son
Yochonon was 31 days old. Alluding to the
custom that the ceremony take
place during a meat meal, she recounted how her
mother-in-law had served a
strange substance in a flavorful sauce. “I remember the menu.
I’d never
eaten tongue before,” she said.
For young Menachem Mendel Goldman, the ceremony began with small bags of
sugar and
garlic being arranged around him on the tray. A flyer explained
that the treats were party
favors for the guests, so they could bring back
a taste of the experience to their families.
Women placed their jewelry on
the child, following a traditional custom employed to avert
the evil eye,
but Yochonon Goldman suggested the custom was merely a way to beautify
the
mitzvah.
Goldman then carried the tray to the designated Cohane, Rabbi Aryeh
Weinstein of Lubavitch
of Bucks County. Weinstein asked the father whether
he would rather have his son or the
six U.S. silver dollars with which the
child could be redeemed. (Since the coins are
only about 90 percent silver,
Goldman had taken the caution of acquiring six to ensure that
he made the
proper payment.)
A few congregants playfully suggested that the father barter for a better
deal, but he gladly
gave up the coins and said the blessing for the pidyon
haben and the Shehecheyanu.
New Arrivals The Goldmans were both raised in families that served
as emissaries for the
late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the
Lubavitcher rebbe. Rabbi Goldman’s parents
live in Johannesburg, South
Africa. His wife’s parents live in Tel Aviv. Both have
participated in
Jewish educational and organizational work around the world.
This is their first permanent position and the rabbi said they are looking
forward to working
with Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, executive director of the
Lubavitch House and religious
leader of the nearby Vilna Congregation, to
continue to foster a viable Lubavitch presence
in Center City. Rabbi Shraga
Sherman, who formerly held the pulpit at B’nai Abraham, has
moved to the
Main Line to organize educational programs there.
Since the passing of the rebbe five years ago, Goldman said, “more and more
couples like
ourselves are making it their mission to strengthen
communities and getting them back
to their roots.” The underlying aim of
their work, he said, is to hasten the Messiah’s arrival.
For, he noted, Israel is God’s firstborn child, “and when [the Messiah]
comes and God
redeems us, that will be the global pidyon haben — that’s
what we’re looking forward to.”
