The Jewish people, like most religious groups, had special rites and responsibilities for firstborns. The firstborn of any species, man or beast, was offered to God. Whereas some ancient peoples ...

The Torah, in the Book of Numbers, explains pidyon haben (redemption of the firstborn son; Numbers 3:40–51). Originally, the eldest son in each family was designated to serve in the Temple. After the ...

BEIT SHEMESH, Israel -- Shortly after sundown, Yaakov Tabersky presented his firstborn son on a silver platter to a Jewish priest in a ceremony harking back to the biblical exodus from Egypt. The ...

A son who is not himself a kohen or a Levi, firstborn to a Jewish mother who is not the daughter of a kohen or a Levi, has the status of a bechor and must be redeemed through a ceremony known as ...

A young father returned to his home kibbutz to redeem his first-born son - and two other never-redeemed first-borns joined in as well. Residents don't remember ever seeing a Torah-mandated redemption ...

An ultra orthodox Jewish man of the Kretchnief Hasidic sect blesses his son, a thirty-day-old infant, during the "Pidyon Haben" ceremony at a synagogue in Rehovot, 30 km south of Tel Aviv, Israel, on ...

Pidyon haben should not be different than ma’aser sheini, he argues, concerning which the Rambam writes (in the fourth perek of Hilchos Ma’aser Sheini) that a person can redeem another’s ma’aser sheni ...

Hull Hebrew Congregation has celebrated a rare simchah - the city's first Pidyon HaBen for 23 years. Kimberley and Avi Schwartz from Jerusalem decided to hold the biblical redemption ceremony in east ...

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its ...

Thanks to Gary Rosenblatt for another beautiful, personal piece, this one related to the Pidyon HaBen of his newest grandchild (“New Grandchild, Ancient Ritual,” March 2). I was actually married with ...