Back to Question of the Week Back to Archives Q: We would like to plant the traditional tree for the birth of our twin boys. I cannot remember if it should be a cedar or cypress. I can never remember which is for a boy and which is for a girl. What is the source? Deborah
		A: First of all, mazal tov on the birth of your twins!! May they grow to, Torah, Chuppah, and good deeds! For boys, a cedar was planted. The textual source of this tradition is a bit strange: By reason of the shaft of a litter Betar was destroyed. It was the custom when a boy was born to plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born to plant a cypress, and when they married, the tree was cut down and a canopy made of the branches. One day the daughter of the Emperor was passing when the shaft of her litter broke, so they lopped some branches off a cedar tree and brought it to her. The Jews thereupon fell upon them and beat them. They reported to the Emperor that the Jews were rebelling, and he marched against them. (Talmud Gittin 57a) I guess we have to remember that, while rituals help us through life, it is life that is important. The text of the Talmud does not provide us with anything else about this custom. I've tried to find sources for it in the Tanakh and would suggest the two following verses. The Song of Songs, Chapter 5, verse 15 sings of the male lover, "...his appearance is like Lebanon, a man like cedars." The cedar was considered a majestic and beautiful tree. Perhaps there is symbolic meaning in that the walls of Solomon's Temple were all of cedar. As for planting a cypress for girls, in preparing the covenant ceremony for the birth of my own daughter, I found Chapter 55 of Isaiah very evocative and useful. There, verse 13 says, "Instead of the brier, a cypress shall rise...." Again, mazal tov to Deborah and may your sons grow to be strong and beautiful and as full of holiness as Solomon's Temple. written by Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz
		last update: August 1999 Got a question for Reb on the Web? Visit our Archived Questions SHOOT*! ("SHOOT" is the Hebrew acronym for SHe'elot OOTeshuvot (Questions and Answers), the centuries-old dialogue between Jews and their rabbis.)

	[Home] [Lobby] [Library] [Classroom] [Office] [Lounge] [Gift Shop] Kolel: The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning