The Question Asked at a Pidyon Haben
At a Pidyon Haben ceremony (the redemption of a firstborn son), the baby’s father is asked, as per the text in the Siddur, whether he prefers to give five sela’im to the kohen in order to redeem his son, or to keep the money. This question should not be misunderstood: the father is actually not given a choice; the child belongs to the father, and even if he were to choose to give the child to the kohen, he would nevertheless have to perform the mitzvah of Pidyon Haben. The reason the father is asked this question is for him to understand that the money is an absolute gift to the kohen, and that it must be given sincerely and wholeheartedly, with no possibility of getting it back. Another reason for this question is to make the father aware how the mitzvah of Pidyon Haben operates: it’s not only about the father giving the kohen the five sela’im; he needs to understand that he is engaging in a process of “redemption”—he is redeeming his son from the kohen, and if his son doesn’t have a Pidyon Haben, he will have some aspects of the kedushah (sanctity) of a bechor (a first-born son), and consequently there might be certain things forbidden to him. #296?1
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