Brit Milah

Gabe's Brit Milah was on Friday, February 23rd. It was a beautiful ceremony surrounded by many friends and family. We even had family come in from as far as Louisiana, Colorado, New York and California. Gabe is a lucky boy! Also, Evan put down on paper some of what he said at the Bris. You can read it at the bottom of this posting below the photos.



Remarks Delivered at the Bris of Gabriel Lev Nierman, 2-23-07
It is always amazing to be caught up in one of those moments that you know you will always remember and recall with clarity.
There are a handful of moments in my life that I can recall perfectly…almost all having to do with lifecycle events and many of them in the context of Jewish life.
During every single one of those occasions I have been surrounded by family and by loving friends. Today, Gabe is entering into a sacred covenant between God and the Jewish people.
He is also entering into a sacred covenant as a member of our family. He will be blessed to have grandparents that he knows, to have memories of great-grandparents, to have uncles who love him. He will be blessed to have many cousins the same age—he even shares a name with one of them.
We did not know what we call Gabe until about two days before he was born. We debated for nine months, but never could seem to find a name that we both agreed upon. Once we had settled upon his first name, we then had to decide on a middle name. We had a number that we were considering, including Lev, which is the Hebrew word for heart.
Before she had Gabe, Robin endured a long and painful labor. At one point, the baby’s heart rate plummeted and a team of doctors raced in. They were just moments away from doing an emergency C-section when the most senior doctor managed to reach up and adjust the baby’s position through the cervix, perhaps freeing the neck from the umbilical cord. The heart rate stabilized and the crisis was averted.
Several hours later, the baby’s heart rate was well above normal and the doctors warned us that unless it came down, they would have to perform a C-section—something which we were trying to avoid. When the heart rate failed to drop down to an acceptable rate, they told us that the section was unavoidable.
In the operating room, seated by Robin’s head they began surgery. Robin turned to me as I held her hand and with perfect calmness (something that was quite amazing considering the cocktail of drugs in her system and the fact that her body was wide open upon the operating table) said, “Well, if it’s a boy I guess his middle name will be Lev. His heart is the reason that we’re here right now.”
It is a humbling thing to know that there is now another human being, totally reliant upon you for everything—from supplying the most basic elements for life (shelter, food, etc.) to helping shape what kind of a man he will be. And most importantly, to do our best to shape him into the kind of man that we hope he will one day become. He can look to his great grandparents and grandparents—they are the consummate role models. Compassionate, loving, generous—for Robin and me if we just can provide a fraction of the love that we both experienced growing up—we will have done our job.
During the Torah portion for this week we read about the children of Israel who are wandering in the desert on their way to the Promised Land—the modern day state of Israel. God speaks to Moses and gives instructions for erecting a mishkan—a temporary sanctuary—in the desert so that the children of Israel can worship God. The first sanctuary is a tent, and is constructed in such as way that it can be picked up and moved.
Moses receives very specific instruction as to what kind of materials, measurements, etc. he can use. God tells Moses how to make the aron, the ark, which will contain the 10 commandments. Rather than making them solid gold, he has them construct an ark that is made of wood, but overlaid with gold.
Why would God not want his most precious creation—the Torah—to be encased in a fitting ark? The rabbis teach that God makes this decision not because he is trying to cut corners or even to ensure his project remains on budget—something that everyone here understands the importance of doing. He does so because he wants to make it easier for the Levites whose job it is to carry the ark by lightening their load.
Just as God strove to lighten the load of his people, it is our greatest wish that our son will grow up to be the kind of man that is always looking to do the right thing, and always searching for ways to devote himself to lightening the load of others.
For the Israelites wandering in the desert, the sanctuary and the ark were what they valued the most. From the moment of his birth and even before he entered the world, Gabe has been our creation and most sacred and cherished treasure. In a sense, he is a sanctuary and an ark, because within him also resides Shechina—God’s holy presence.
And just as their ark was carried by the Jewish people with them always during their wandering, it is our hope that Gabe will carry with him always, regardless of what path he chooses to take and wherever he goes, a commitment to his family and his people, a sense of purpose and a love of life.