The ceremony of pidyon ha-ben, although not frequently observed today, is one of the oldest in Judaism. It involves the ceremonial “redemption” of a firstborn son from compulsory service to God as a priest or other religious functionary. It has two ancient origins. The first stems from the days of the Temple in Jerusalem where Jews brought their first fruits of the harvest each year —lambs, chickens, calves, fruits, grains, and—yes—their first-born sons—as a Thanksgiving offering to God. An example of this can be seen in the book of Samuel where Hannah, who finally gives birth to a son after many years of infertility, brings him to the sanctuary at Shiloh for service to the Lord.
The second biblically-ascribed origin of this custom stems from the time when Moses was attempting to free the Israelites from slavery under Pharaoh. When the 10th plague—killing of firstborn sons— was implemented, Jewish boys were saved by their fathers “redeeming” them prior to the Angel of Death passing through the land. This practice was explicitly commanded in Exodus 13:2 when God says to Moses
Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belong to me, both of man and beast.
Subsequently, to relieve Jews from the obligation of giving over their firstborn sons for religious duty, a special tribe—Levi—was established to perform ritual functions in the temple and elsewhere.
The ritual of pidyon ha-ben takes place on the 31st day of the boy’s life. A father symbolically ransoms his son from the obligation of lifelong service to God by paying a Kohane (a descendent of the ancient tribe of temple priests often having the name “Cohen”, “Kahan”, “Kohn”, etc.) a token amount of money, often the equivalent of five dollars. Part of the “deal” is that the father promises that his son will receive appropriate religious and spiritual education. In the United States silver dollars are often used for this “payment”.
The rule applies only to a son if he is the “opener of the mother’s womb”; if the son was preceded by a sibling, he does not have to be redeemed. Likewise, a child born via cesarean section is not redeemed. In a situation of a second marriage where the parents already have other children, only the mother’s situation counts; if this is the father’s first child but not the mother’s and it is a boy, he is not redeemed.
If for whatever reason a first-born male was not “redeemed” by his parents, he must redeem himself when he grows up.
While the ceremony is carried out on the 31st day, it is postponed if that day is Shabbat or a major Jewish holiday. Kohanes and Levites are exempt from this custom since their role traditionally always was Temple service.
The ceremony runs as follows:
The parents of the baby boy “give” their son to a Kohane. He symbolically represents the priesthood who, in ancient times, would have had this child assigned to them.
The parents say, “This is our firstborn son whom God had commanded us to redeem”.
The Kohane then gives the parents the choice of giving to him their firstborn son or redeeming him for five shekels as they are obliged to do according to the Torah.
The parents of course state that they wish to redeem their son for the five shekels which they give to the Kohane in accordance with the commandment in the Torah, usually in the form of five silver dollars.
The Kohane takes the money and gives the baby back to the parents. The parents then say prescribed blessings regarding the mitzvah of the ceremony they have just performed and the shehecheyanu prayer, which thanks God for allowing them to have been present for this occasion.
The Kohane, placing the five dollars on the child’s head, says “This is in exchange for the obligation of service”. He then blesses the child and, using the traditional wording of the brit milah ceremony, prays that the child has a life that involves study of the Torah, a happy marriage, and the performance of good deeds. The service then concludes with the blessing over wine and the priestly benediction.
The five dollars is either quietly returned to the father or given to charity.
Recently similar ceremonies for baby girls have been developed. They all emphasize the unique experience of becoming parents for the first time.