You can buy and sell just about anything on Craigslist, as long as you’re not looking to score a Jewish baby name to the tune of $20,000.
A New Jersey couple, who had just given birth to their ninth child, tried to do just that.
The ad read:
This is an excellent opportunity for someone who did not have children, or someone looking to honor a relative, or even to honor someone who was killed in the Holocaust.
The father, who wished to remain anonymous, is a teacher and spoke with the Jewish Telegraph Agency about the idea of selling his child’s naming rights.
He said whoever bought the naming rights would be treated like family and in the future, be invited to the bat mitzvah and wedding.
And why are they doing it?
This is my ninth daughter; we’re out of names basically, he told JTA. We needed the money, and I asked my wife if we could do it. I thought she would turn it down, but she said we could try it.
The ad, which was posted Jan. 23, has since been removed for violating Craigslist terms of service — but not before the couple received a few offers.
UPDATE: The baby has been named. The parents chose “Rina” — Hebrew for “joy” — and it was without any influence from online bidders.
And oddly, trying to sell a baby’s name isn’t the strangest Jewish item that’s popped up on Craigslist. There was that time that this ad surfaced: Seven Single White Jewish Males Looking to Host Seven Single Females for Shabbat Dinner.
