Zachy’s Baby Naming Ceremony in Southampton

The Silverman family gathered at the Southampton Social Club to welcome their youngest, Zachy, into the covenant of the Jewish people. I have also had the honor of officiating baby naming ceremonies for his older siblings, Charles and Marin, so this felt like returning to something familiar and cherished, and was a super fun reunion!

Each Hebrew name in a family carries echoes of the ones before it, weaving together a tapestry of shared family history. The same tallit that had wrapped Charles and Marin years earlier was brought out again for Zachy, and it was so adorable to see him wrapped in it! When we placed it around him for the blessings, it felt like a quiet act of continuity, connecting all three children through the same ritual embrace.

Chelsea and Cam, Zachy’s parents, asked the grandparents to write a special blessing for the occasion. They each contributed words that reflected their hopes for this newest grandchild: wishes for health, kindness, curiosity, and laughter. When the blessings were read aloud, the voices carried both pride and tenderness. The words were simple but sincere, shaped by years of family love and experience.

One of the most memorable moments came when great-grandma Anne stood to translate the Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Benediction, in English. Her voice was clear and steady, filling the room with warmth. The translation of that ancient blessing—“May God bless you and protect you. May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May God’s presence be with you and bring you peace”—felt especially fitting as she spoke it over her great-grandson. She was speaking on behalf of generations past, and connecting the baby to those who came before him, and her, as this next link in a chain of tradition.

There was a sweetness in every detail that morning. Aunt Sandra baked the challah herself, and it sat on the table, round and golden. The ceremony itself was calm and filled with presence. Zachy was alert (which can be rare for a small baby. Sometimes they sleep right through the ceremony!), watching as his family gathered around him. His siblings stood nearby, taking it all in, old enough now to understand a bit of what was happening. Each blessing, each name spoken, seemed to layer one more piece of meaning onto the family’s story.

When I spoke about the importance of the Jewish naming ritual, I looked around the room and saw faces that had shared countless milestones together: weddings, holidays, first days of school, and now another welcoming moment to bring another member of the family into the covenant. Rituals like this one remind us that the Jewish tradition is not abstract or distant. It is lived and passed hand to hand, generation to generation, sometimes in grand sanctuaries and sometimes in familiar, joyful spaces like this one.

By the end of the morning, as challah was shared and conversation filled the air again, Zachy’s Hebrew name had been fully woven into the fabric of his family’s life. It was a ceremony that honored what came before, celebrated what is, and made space for all that is yet to come!