Celebrating the first time an infant girl is laid in her cradle is common in several (central Asian) Jewish communities. In Bokhara, for example, small children are called to participate in "snatching" away the sweet treats that have been placed around the baby in the cradle. During this ceremony, the cradle was lifted up several times. In the Bene Israel community (India) the naming ceremony usually takes place on the twelfth day after her birth. Held in the home, it is intended primarily for the women and children of the family. A special new garment is sewn for the child, her cradle is decorated with flowers and colored paper and placed in the middle of the house; cooked chickpeas, peeled pieces of coconut and cookies are arranged along the inner edges of the cradle.
The custom of naming a girl involving special rituals existed also in Southern Germany, Alsace and Switzerland, where it was called "Hollekreisch." This very old Ashkenazi naming ceremony, known as early as the 12th century, spread among the Jews in the Rhineland and Alsace, and lasted well into the 20th century. During the ceremony conducted by the rabbi, children were invited to lift the cradle three times while calling out "Hollekreisch, what shall the baby be named?" They would then shout out the baby's name while the rabbi read additional biblical verses. The children were then rewarded with fruit and sweets. (According to one interpretation, Hollekreisch comes from the German, meaning "to cry out the profane," since the children call out the baby's secular, as opposed to Hebrew, name. Another interpretation is that it derives from the name of the German goddess Holle or Hulda, who attacks newborns before they are named. According to a third interpretation, the word derives from the French "haut la creche" meaning "lift up the cradle.") [Back]