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Only 1-of-10 Jewish families ever meet all the conditions for Pidyon Ha’Ben.
- If you were eligible for a Pidyon Ha’Ben, but did not have one, then you still can and should have one. Speak to your rabbi to arrange the ceremony!
- Some people have the custom to give their guests cloves of garlic and cubes of sugar to take home. These strongly-flavored foods can be used to flavor other quantities of food which in some sense extends the Pidyon mitzvah beyond the actual ceremony itself.
- Jewish law requires that the silver coins used have a requisite total amount of silver which according to various opinions falls between 100 grams and 117 grams. Coins which do not contain this requisite amount of silver do not result in a valid redemption.
- The Israeli Mint has minted special edition 23.4 gram silver commemorative coins for the purpose, five of which would come to exactly 117 grams of silver.
- Though the silver coins are the payment to the Kohen under Jewish law, they are usually returned to the family as a gift for the child, as the coins themselves are often commemorative in nature. There are many examples of artistically crafted gift boxes or display cases made for the child to have as a memento of the occasion. The father then usually offers a gift or fee of more conventional cash to the Kohen.
