A judge today agreed to briefly recess a mortgage-fraud trial next week so a defense lawyer can attend his grandson’s Jewish “bris” ceremony in Philadelphia.
Earlier this month, lawyer Bennett Epstein filed a motion for a “writ of possible simcha” — Hebrew for “joy” — in the event his pregnant daughter, Eva, gave birth to a boy.
Epstein wrote that “hordes” of well-wishers would come “from around the globe” for the ritual foreskin-trimming.
“My presence is not strictly commanded, although my absence will never be forgotten by those that matter,” he wrote.
Manhattan federal Judge Kimba Wood ruled that Epstein could attend, but also said she wanted “to balance the scales” if a girl was born, ordering “a public celebration in court, with readings from poetry celebrating girls and women.”
This morning, Epstein announced that his daughter, a 33-year-old psychologist, had given birth to a 7-pound, 10-ounce son at 2:13 a.m.
Both mother and son — whose name will be revealed at Monday’s ceremony — are doing “great,” he said.
Epstein noted, however, that “all the poetry readings I prepared are moot.”