"American Jews are inventing ceremonies to celebrate the birth of their daughters.  These ceremonies go by many names... Most of these rituals are still changing:  Every ceremony that is written down--and many are not--is passed along to other parents, who almost always revise and reshape it for their own use."

       "As Jewish feminists became parents in the 1960s and 1970s, they were dismayed by the disparity between the celebration surrounding the birth of a boy and the lack of ceremony to mark the arrival of a baby girl.  The need to give Jewish expression to the joy of that attends the birth of a daughter coincided with the Jewish renewal movement, which stressed a hands-on, home-style, learn-as-you -do attitude toward tradition."

     "Using brit milah-the covenant of circumcision- as a model, and with the experience of bat mitzvah-the coming-of-age ceremony for daughters-as a guide, parents began experimenting with covenant ceremonies for girls.  What seemed experimental and tentative in 1975 is now mainstream."

...The New Jewish Baby Book, Anita Diamant

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