If you are Jewish, you know that making the decision to circumcise your newborn is a very personal decision you and your partner make with God on behalf of your son. But even though your decision is a joyous one, you probably have many questions about the procedure and may even have some anxiety about the impending event.

In the Jewish culture, circumcision is referred to as “brit milah”, meaning “covenant of circumcision” and is a symbol of the biblical conversation that took place between God and Abraham. Unlike routine circumcisions that take place at the hospital less than a day after a child is born, Jewish circumcisions take place on the eighth day of a child’s life in a sacred, religious ceremony with family and friends present to witness the celebration. During the circumcision ceremony, the infant is welcomed into his own personal covenant between God and the Jewish people. After the circumcision has taken place, everyone is invited to partake in a celebratory meal which is referred to as seudat mitzvah.

The ceremony is always performed by a “mohel”, which means “circumciser”, who is almost exclusively a male (although more modern, conservative Jewish practices do sanction the use of female circumcisers). Regardless, the mohel is usually a physician and/or rabbi who have been specially certified in the necessary medical training in addition to the religious rituals of the procedure. If translated literally from the Bible, the role of the mohel was to be filled by the father of the newborn, but understandably enough, most fathers feel uncomfortable in such a role, not to mention lack the required experience and training to ensure the procedure is safe to the newborn. This mohel fills this need. A recent controversy that has come to light is the practice of “metzitzah b’peh”, which is when the mohel sucks blood from the fresh wound- seen as a form of cleansing the wound. There have been many complaints over this practice recently for social and health reasons, especially because of the potential for spreading of disease from the mohel’s mouth to the infant.

Some mohels claim to favor certain techniques over others, one being the Mogen clamp, usually because they feel one method is more similar to traditional rituals than another. It is also widely acknowledged that Jewish ritual circumcisions are faster and therefore possibly less traumatic for the infant- on average; a mohel completes circumcision of the infant in approximately 10 seconds.

You should feel comfortable approaching your rabbi and/or physician about circumcising your infant, and take the opportunity to have your questions answered and concerns addressed before the birth of your child.

Posted in Circumcision

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