Tzvi's Pidyon Haben

Since Tzvi is our firstborn son and neither one of us is from a Levite family, we had to redeem him from a Cohen when he turned one-month old. This fell out exactly on Motzei Shabbat after Shavuot (May 30, 2009). The ceremony of the pidyon haben is relatively simple - the Cohen asks the father if this is his firstborn, male child, born naturally and if he (the father) would rather have the child or the 5 pieces of silver. The father then gives the five pieces of silver to the Cohen in exchange for the child. We used 5 silver dollar - 4 from the 1920s and one from 2009. Avi made sure that the silver content was equal to or greater than 5 shekels (the Biblical amount for the redemption).


Pictures by Debbi Cooper

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