LifeCycle Events: Birth, Bris: Celebrating the Birth of a Boy:
What is the source of the custom of celebrating on the Friday night after a boy is born?
It's an Ashkenazi custom, mentioned by the Rema in
Yoreh Deah 265:12. It's done on Friday night because
people are available then. Usually the neighbors are
invited, and it's customary to serve chickpeas;
the custom of eating chickpeas is mentioned in the
(German) Yalkut Minhagim. It has been suggested
(see Taz, Yoreh Deah 265:13) that the newborn boy is
sad because he has forgotten all the Torah he studied
in Heaven; note that chickpeas are mourners' food.
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