It is a positive mitzvah for each Israelite to redeem his son who is firstborn to his Israelite mother after the thirtieth day from his birth, i.e., on the thirty-first day, with five sela'im. If he redeemed him before, he is not redeemed; if after, he has transgressed a positive mitzvah. Five sela'im is equivalent to the weight of eight lot of pure silver in the royal weight of our country [102 grams of pure silver]. This amount may be given to the Kohen in silver or the equivalent thereof in anything except land, servants or a note [of a debt owed to the father]. If he redeemed with any of these, he is not redeemed.
The father brings the firstborn before the Kohen, and five sela'im of silver or its equivalent, and informs him that the child is a firstborn, the first issue of the womb of his Israelite mother, and says to him:
My Israelite wife has borne me this firstborn son.
The Kohen asks him:
Which would you rather have — your firstborn son or the five sela'im which you are obligated to give me for the redemption of this your firstborn son.
The father replies:
I want this my firstborn son, and here you have five sela'im which is required of me for the Redemption.
As the father gives the Kohen the redemption-money, the father says:
Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the Redemption of a son.
Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the universe, Who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion.
Some observe the custom of preparing a meal in honor of the redemption of the firstborn. If there is wine, the Redemption ceremony is performed during the meal after the berachah over bread. The Kohen recites a berachah over wine immediately after the Redemption. If there is no wine, the Redemption is performed before the meal, and the Kohen recites a berachah over another beverage. This meal is considered a Seudat Mitzvah.
Redemption of firstborn son
QUESTION: A wedding meal follows the chupah, and a meal at a brit follows the brit, so why is a pidyon haben usually done in the middle of the meal?
ANSWER: There are two reasons given for the requirement of redeeming the firstborn.
- The Torah states, "For every firstborn is Mine: On the day I struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified every firstborn in Israel for Myself" (Bamidbar 3:13).
- The brothers sold Rachel's firstborn, Yosef, for twenty pieces of silver (Bereishit 37:28), which was equivalent to five sela'im. Therefore, our firstborn must be redeemed for that amount as an atonement for the misdeeds of our ancestors (Shekalim 2:3).
Yosef's brothers were pasturing Yaakov's flock, and Yaakov sent Yosef to them. When they saw him from afar, they conspired against him to kill him. Upon Reuven's request to shed no blood, they threw him into a pit. The Torah relates that they sat down to eat and then noticed a caravan of Ishmaelites enroute to Egypt. Yehudah advised selling him, they agreed, and Yosef was sold for twenty pieces of silver (
Bereishit 37:13-28).
On the tenth of Nissan, prior to the Jews' departure from Egypt, Hashem instructed the Jews to prepare a lamb to be slaughtered on the afternoon of the fourteenth and eaten at night. Hashem also told the Jews, "I shall go through Egypt on this night, and I shall strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt" (Shemot 12:3-12).
Since the redeeming of the firstborn is connected with two events which took place while the Jews were in the midst of a meal, the pidyon haben is customarily held after the assembled sit down to the meal.
Additions to the Blessing After a Meal Following a Circumcision