AP PHOTOS: Jews redeem firstborn son in ancient ceremony

BEIT SHEMESH, Israel -- Shortly after sundown, Yaakov Tabersky presented his firstborn son on a silver platter to a Jewish priest in a ceremony harking back to the biblical exodus from Egypt.

The ceremony, known as “pidyon ha-ben,” or redemption of the firstborn, was held in an ultra-Orthodox community in Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem. Thursday night's ceremony had added significance because the baby is the great-grandchild of Aharon Biderman, the chief rabbi of the Lelov Hassidic dynasty.

Firstborn sons originally made up the priesthood of the ancient Israelites. As described in the Book of Exodus, they were spared from the final plague brought upon the pharaoh, in which God was said to have wiped out the firstborn sons of Egypt, an event commemorated every spring at Passover.

However, the Jewish firstborn later lost that privilege when the Israelites joined in the worship of a golden calf, after being delivered from Egypt, in defiance of the prohibition against idolatry. The priesthood was then transferred to the descendants of the prophet Aaron, who did not participate. Tradition holds that Jews should redeem their firstborn sons to a kohen, a member of the priestly class descended from Aaron.