The redemption is attained by paying five silver coins to a kohen (a patrilineal descendant of the priestly family of Aaron), on behalf of one's firstborn son.

When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, יהוה slew every [male] first-born in the land of Egypt, the firstborn of both human and beast.

[2] The Torah describes the tribe of Levi (to which the priests belong) as having inherited the role of divine service which previously belonged to the firstborns: I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the male first-born, the first issue of the womb among the Israelites: the Levites shall be Mine.

[3]According to the traditional rabbinic interpretation, even before the Exodus the priestly duties were reserved for the oldest son in each family.

[4] The priesthood was given specifically to the kohanim (Aaron and his descendants), and at the same time, it was instituted that the firstborn should be redeemed.

[6] The Shulchan Aruch states that when a Jewish woman gives birth to a firstborn male by natural means (i.e. a boy born vaginally and not by Caesarean section) then the child must be "redeemed".

[14] Also, a first-born male does not require redemption if his birth was preceded by an earlier miscarriage by the mother that occurred after the third month of pregnancy.

If the previous miscarriage occurred after forty days, but before the fetus developed distinguishing characteristics, redemption of the first-born is still required, but the blessing said by the father is omitted.

[19] In the traditional ceremony, the father brings the child to the kohen and recites a formula, or responds to ritual questions, indicating that this is the Israelite mother's firstborn son and he has come to redeem him as commanded in the Torah.

If the family is Sephardic, the kohen asks the mother if the child is indeed her firstborn son and if she did not miscarry in the past.

The child is sometimes presented on a silver tray, surrounded by jewelry lent for the occasion by women in attendance.

Guests in some places are given cloves of garlic and cubes of sugar to take home: these strongly flavored foods can be used to flavor a large quantity of food which will in some sense extend the mitzvah of participation in the ceremony to all who eat them.