StellaJo

As part of the Erev Shabbat service on Friday July 25 we had a baby naming ceremony. Being Shabbat we did not take pictures, but I can share some of the words that have been spoken.

Granya Jaen recited the poem she wrote for the occasion,

Thank you Creator of All
The Love that is us
For this little girl
That you’ve placed in our trust

Please provide us with foresight
To help show her the way
That is worthy of all.
That we’re blessed with today.

She begins now with Family
And friends and thanksgiving
To hopefully honor our past one’s
And the future ones living

Your grandmother’s blessing
To Chava Shoshana- Stella Jozefin
A welcome you among us
A happy little being.

Granddad Rick read a poem by e. e. cummings,

we can never be born enough.
we are human beings for whom birth is a supremely welcome mystery.
the mystery of growing, the mystery which happens only
and whenever we are faithful to ourselves.
life for eternal us is now.

Anya read a poem by Rabbi Judith Shanks, as adapted by Rabbi Maggie Wenig,

Poem of Thanksgiving

With all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might
I thank You, G-d, for the gift of this wonderful child.
I thank You, for a healthy pregnancy, a safe delivery and a speedy recovery.

With all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might
I pray for the continued health of this child.
I pray for her to b strong in mind and body,
To grow steadily and sturdily in a home filled with joy.
I pray for her to become a person who greets the world
With passion, courage, humility, humor and patience.

With all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might
I pray for G-d to watch over me and my family.
I pray for the ability to love and nurture this child
To provide for her and to educate her,
To understand her and to allow her the freedom to grow.

I, Gabor, spoke a few words without notes. As far as I can recall this is what I said.

As you just heard we named our daughter Chava Shoshana. The names honor our grandparents as my maternal grandmother’s name was Eva and my maternal grandmother’s name Zsuzsanna. The names Chava and Shoshana are the Hebrew versions of these names. Anya’s maternal grandmother was called Josephine. I hope to transfer the emotional, mental and spiritual love my grandmothers cherished me with. I hope Chavah Shoshana will reciprocate this love to others and will be an instrument in making the word a better place.

We know it is bit cheesy, but yesterday we could not resists buying a jumbo inflatable Stella Artois bottle from eBay.

Stella was born on June 29. Here are some other people with the same date:

• Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (b. 1900)  – French writer and aviator, mostly known for The Little Prince
• Zsigmond Móricz (b. 1879)  – Hungarian writer. Most of his novels and some of his stories are available here in Hungarian.
• Balázs Galkó (b. 1949) Hungarian actor –

Here are some historical events of the day, based on Wikipedia:

• 1613 – The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground.
• 1888 – First (known) recording of classical music made, Handel’s Israel in Egypt on wax cylinder.
• 1974 – Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina.

June 29 is celebrated as Veterans Day in The Netherlands, the first Apple iPhones went on sale on this day in 2007,  and Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller got married in 1956 on this day.

According to the Jewish calendar Stella’s birthday. Sivan 26, 5768. This makes her parasha Chukkat, Number 19:1-22:1.

According to the Hungarian tradition of namedays Stella’s namday can be celebrated on June 14, 15 or 19. I think I would like to pick June 15, because this year that was Father’s Day.