Isaac’s Bris - Melanie Stanton

When a Jewish boy is 8 days old, it is traditional to have a bris. (You can read about what it is and why HERE).

Our first baby spent a week in the NICU so his was a little delayed, but this time we were able to have Isaac’s bris on the 8th day.

I’m aware that circumcision has become a controversial topic and this post is not going to be about that debate. We follow Jewish traditions and customs and I just want to share a few special moments from that day.

Baby naming

Sharing the name

One of the most significant traditions at a bris is to reveal and share the baby’s name for the first time. Some people will tell people the baby’s English name earlier and reveal the Hebrew name at the bris – which is what we did with our first baby. And some people will wait til the bris to say the baby’s name at all – what we did this time.

It helped that we didn’t actually choose his name til he was 4 days old. Which apparently was very stressful for the registry people at the hospital – they visited us more than anyone and even called a few times after we were discharged.

I’m not a great secret keeper but once we did decide on a name it was sorta fun to keep it to ourselves for a few days.

We had a hard time picking a name this time around. Obviously we talked about names while I was pregnant but we struggled to find the perfect name for our baby. Jon wanted the baby’s English and Hebrew names to be the same and I was very focused on naming our baby after my dad. So when we would try to find a name he would suggest very traditional Jewish names and I would just list any boy name that started with the letter H. Of course none of the names overlapped.

But once we did decide on a name, as hard as it was to wait to share it, it felt very special to hear Jon announce it in a room full of people who love us and already loved our new baby so much.

What his name means

Isaac (Yitzchak)

The name Isaac means laughter or he will laugh.

When Jon first suggested the name Isaac I asked who we would be naming him after (again I was really only thinking about naming him after my dad) and when he responded “our forefathers” I laughed.

The name comes from the Torah and Abraham laughed when God said he and Sarah would be having a baby because they were past the age to have children.

I turned 35 a month before Isaac was born, which I’m aware is still very young… but is considered ‘advanced maternal age’ or as some would say a geriatric pregnancy.

Obviously no where near Sarah’s age when she had her Isaac (90) but I still see the connection.

Howard (Yehezkel)

We gave Isaac the middle name Howard, my dad’s name.

My dad passed away in 2020 and even though I would’ve loved for my dad to be here and meet Isaac, I feel like it’s so special that they’re at least still very connected.

I had a not-so-small list of H names and didn’t even think to actually name our baby Howard. It’s hard to picture a baby named Howard (although I guess all Howards did start out as babies…).

But I think it’s so cute as a middle name, it sounds nice with Isaac, and I LOVE hearing his big brother say my dad’s name so often.