Nursing is a powerful and primal connection between a mother and child. Rabbinic literature used the image of a nursing mother as a metaphor for the bond between God and the people of Israel.

The end of nursing is an important milestone for both child and mother.

In the past, when infant mortality was a terribly common fact of life, weaning may have been celebrated with more ceremony than birth or circumcision. There is no mention of a celebration in honor of Isaac's bris; the Torah says, "And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a feast on the day Isaac was weaned" (Gen. 21:8). In the Bible, Hannah's prayer of thanksgiving was offered after Samuel's weaning.

Contemporary weaning celebrations tend to be brief, consisting of a series of prayers, personal reflections and commentary, and a meal. Because weaning often takes place over the course of weeks or months, a celebration like this can be scheduled sometime during the process of introducing solid foods to your child, whenever you feel it is time to observe this very personal rite of passage.

Where Are the Ceremonies Held?

Weaning celebrations are held at home, either as part of a Shabbat lunch or incorporated into the ceremony that ends the Sabbath, havdalah. Havdalah, which means "separation," is clearly an appropriate theme. Just as the weekly Havdalah sanctifies and celebrates the difference between sacred and secular time, weaning marks a new separation of mother and child.

It is customary to begin the meal at a weaning celebration by having someone other than the mother feed the child his or her first solid food. (A symbolic "first" is fine, too. If your baby is already eating rice cereal, offer a first taste of barley cereal.) The honor of feeding the baby might be given to the father, a sibling, or a grandparent. Another custom associated with this rediscovered rite of passage is the giving of tzedakah in the amount of the baby's weight. The gift might be designated for a charity having to do with hunger or children.

Some parents make a point of using white wine for kiddush, symbolizing mother's milk. If the baby has not already been given a kiddush cup, this can be a nice occasion to buy one and offer the baby a first sip from it.

Weaning celebrations can be as simple as the addition of a sheheheyanu on the first Shabbat meal after a full week without nursing. Or you can create a more public milestone, complete with a printed program of readings, songs, and blessings. You might reprise lines or readings from your child's bris ceremony, reflecting on the distance between that day and this.

Excerpted with permission from The New Jewish Baby Book (Jewish Lights).

Anita Diamant is a writer. Her books include The New Jewish Baby Book, Choosing a Jewish Life, The New Jewish Wedding, Saying Kaddish, and The Red Tent, a novel. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts.