1. 1722 copper color etching The Firstborn Redemption by Bernard Picart (14.5×20.5 cm), MAJH1, Paris.
2. Silver and enamel tray by Henryk Winograd (1917-2008) with scene of Binding of Isaac (24.5 x 19 cm), Jonathan Greenstein & Co, New York.
3. Silver box and five silver coins minted in 1955 by Vivian Cohen (⌀ 3.5 cm, 21.05 gr), WorthPoint Corporation Digital Media Sales, Atlanta.
4. Goblet for kiddush, clear and cobalt blue Murano glassware enhanced with moldings and filigrees in gold and platinum (⌀ 8.5 сm, H 29.7 сm).
Qora’h (קרח), Numbers 16:1–18:32. In chapter 18, it is written:
טז וּפְדוּיָו, מִבֶּן-חֹדֶשׁ תִּפְדֶּה, בְּעֶרְכְּךָ, כֶּסֶף שְׁקָלִ שְׁקָלִים בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ: עֶשְׂרִים גֵּרָה, הוּא.
16 As for redemption, you shall grant it from the age of one month,
at the rate of five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, worth twenty ghera.
In Jewish law, every father2 must redeem his firstborn son. This prescription is observed by all Jewish communities whether orthodox, traditionalist or liberal. Parents gather a minian3 and offer a seudat mitzvah4. Depending on the denominations, the ceremony takes place before, during or after this meal.
Running of the ceremony: The kohen takes the child. The father having placed the required 5 shekels on a tray, gives this tray to the kohen. The cohen then returns the child and places the tray above the child’s head and says “this in compensation for this child”. The kohen then lays his hands on the child’s head and blesses it. The Cohen then makes a blessing over a cup of wine.
If the father for whatever reason is unable to redeem himself, the child will have to redeem himself when he is old enough to do so.
1 Museum of Jewish Art and History.
2 It is is one of the 613 mitzvot. It falls to the father (like circumcision for that matter), even if the status of firstborn depends on the mother. The firstborn of a Kohen, a Levite, or the daughter of a Kohen or a Levite is not redeemed.
3 Quorum of ten men.
4 A seudat mitzvah (סעודת מצווה – mitzvah meal) means a meal that is in itself a (biblical or rabbinic) prescription, such as Shabbat meals or a meal held on occasion of a mitzvah, such as the Pidyion haBen.