The brit-milah tag has no wiki summary.
12
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3answers
576 views
Is Metzitzah B'peh a must?
There is a lot of talk in the news, etc., about Metzitzah B'peh that employs direct oral contact being dangerous.
First: If it is dangerous, shouldn't pikuach nefesh push it off?
Second: How ...
4
votes
4answers
301 views
Why is the foreskin removed?
Why is the foreskin removed? God gave it men, did God also tell them to have it removed?
3
votes
2answers
109 views
Why is a bris performed after death?
Why does an infant baby boy who dies before he can be circumcised have a circumcision performed after death? If, as the article states it is to prepare the body for the next world why is this ritual ...
4
votes
7answers
148 views
Why did Avraham wait to have a bris?
Chazal tells us (Midrash Rabbah Bereishis 64:4 and 95:3; Yoma 28b, based on. Gen. 26:5; Kiddushin 82a) that the Patriarchs observed the mitzvahs before they were given. But Avraham did not circumcize ...
16
votes
2answers
181 views
Why Not Eight Days Until a Convert's Circumcision?
Why doesn't a convert dip in the mikveh and then wait eight days until he gets his circumcision? The gemara (Yevamot 97b) says ger shnitgayeir kekatan shenolad dami (A convert is like a newly-born ...
9
votes
1answer
127 views
Why did Hashem not tell Avraham to have a Bris earlier?
Avraham Avinu was told to have a Bris at 99 years of age. Why didn't Hashem have him do a Bris earlier?
8
votes
2answers
100 views
V'Al Brischa SheChasamta Bivsoreinu - ועל בריתך שחתמת בבשרנו - does a lady say this?
In Bentching (grace after meals) - both in the Ashkenazic and in the Sefardic version - we say V'Al Brischa SheChasamta Bivsoreinu - ועל בריתך שחתמת בבשרנו - "and for Your covenant, which you sealed ...
8
votes
3answers
159 views
Why is there a ה in “מוהל”?
The Hebrew word for the act performed at a circumcision is "לימול". The root appears to be נ.מ.ל. Following the exceptional rules for roots whose first letter is נ, the causative participle and ...
7
votes
3answers
114 views
K'shaim Shenichnas L'Bris Kain Yikones L'Torah L'Chupa U'Lmaasim Tovim: why that order?
When a baby boy has his Bris we wish him "K'shaim Shenichnas L'Bris Kain Yikones L'Torah L'Chupa U'Lmaasim Tovim" - just like you entered the covenant so to should you enter into Torah, marriage, and ...
6
votes
2answers
73 views
Why did Avraham ask Eliezer to swear in the way he did?
Avraham asks his servant Eliezer to place his hand under his thigh to swear an oath regarding finding a daughter for his son. Chazal explain that he asked him to hold his (Avraham's) milah (male ...
6
votes
4answers
132 views
Does one need to perform a delayed brit milah at the first possible time?
If a baby is sick on the 8th day, the brit is pushed off until the baby is healthy. Once the mohel and doctor determine that the baby is healthy, does the brit need to be performed right away (on that ...
6
votes
3answers
366 views
Baby boy's MOTHER as the sandek(et)
I have recently come upon historical evidence of the mothers of baby boys serving as the sandek(et) during the brit milah.
From page 18 of The Orthodox Jewish Woman and Ritual: Options and ...
6
votes
1answer
250 views
If no one else was available, could a mohel ride a bicycle on shabbos to perform a circumcision?
If a healthy baby boy's eighth day of life is on a Saturday, that's the day his bris milah / circumcision should be performed if at all possible. While elective surgeries are prohibited on Shabbos, ...
6
votes
6answers
268 views
Are tefillin supposed to be removed before a bris (circumcision)? If so, why?
I remember in yeshiva one day as a bris was about to start after minyan, someone came around and told everybody, "take off your tefilin!"
Recently I saw R' Moshe Feinstein explaining why we leave ...
4
votes
2answers
220 views
Etymology of the word “Kvater”
What is the etymology of the word "Kvater"? Kvater is what we call the person that carries the baby boy into a Bris.
4
votes
3answers
115 views
Where and when is the earliest attestation of the word “mohel”?
Where is the earliest attestation of the word mohel for one who performs the act associated with a ritual circumcision?
When was it written?
What language is it?
[Inspired by Why is there a ה in ...
3
votes
3answers
98 views
Does a Late Bris Necessitate Teffilin?
When one makes a Bris after Shacharis, he wears Tefilin. If a Bris is made later on in the day, does he wear Tefilin? Why or why not? And if he does, does it require a second Bracha?
2
votes
2answers
155 views
When a Bris is being done for a baby at the same time as his Pidyon HaBen
If a baby who is a Bechor had his Bris delayed to the 31st day, and now on the 31st day he is ready to have his Bris and it is also the day of his Pidyon HaBen - which Mitzva should be done first? Do ...
