David’s conversion to Judaism: Words from others

Above all, teach this newborn child to touch,
to never stop,
to feel how fur is other than the leaf or cheek,
to know through these hands diamond from glass,
Mezuzah from anything else in the world;
The same with Challah and a book.

As the baby grows,
teach this child to embrace the shoulders of another
before sadness brings them inhumanly low,
to stroke the hair softly of one younger who is weeping,
one older who cries.

Let these hands be a gentle Yes
when Yes is the Truth,
and gently, a No when No is right.
Whatever these fingers touch—
may they be for new holiness and blessing,
for light, life, and love.

Amen.
—Danny Siegel


We did not plant you, true.
But when the season is done,
When the alternate prayers
For sun and for rain are counted,
When the pain of weeding
And the pride of watching are through,
Then I will hold you high,
A shining sheaf
Above the thousand
Seeds grown wild.
Not by our planting,
But by heaven,
Our harvest.
Own own child.
—Carol Lynn Pearson


In every birth, blessed is the wonder.
In every creation, blessed is the new beginning.
In every child, blessed is life.
In every hope, blessed is the potential.
In every transition, blessed is the beginning.
In every existence, blessed are the possibilities.
In every love, blessed are the tears.
In every life, blessed is the love.
—The New Jewish Baby Book