Questions tagged [brit-milah]
Questions about circumcision (brit-milah in Hebrew)
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What does a porcupine have to do with a berit milah?
R' Natan Slifkin, in this recent blog post, presents the above-embedded picture of a porcupine from the Rothschild Miscellany (Italy, 15th Century CE), which adorns a yotzer (seasonal additional ...
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Is there a halachic preference for milah over hatafas dam bris?
While hatafas dam bris is clearly valid for a convert who is already circumcised, is this considered bedieved? Suppose a man who is not already circumcised intends to convert.
Suppose he is also ...
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Do we circumcise a corpse?
We circumcise stillborn babies for many reasons (see e.g., here). Would the same apply for one who it was unhealthy for him to receive a brit milah?
For example, let's say person A's two brothers both ...
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Source for forgiveness at a Bris Milah for those who share the baby's name
I have heard many times that if one is present at a Bris Milah and the baby receives the same name as them, they receive forgiveness for all of their sins and/or some sort of special Beracha.
Is ...
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Use of phrase ברוך הבא - Version #2
Inspired by The previous version of my question
I noticed that in Nusach Ashkenaz, ברוך הבא is said at both a Brit as well as when the Chattan (groom) walks down the aisle toward the Chuppah.
...
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On the relative densities of liquids
The Mishna, Shabas chapter 19, describes beating wine with oil (to make a healing ointment for a circumcision) as something that can be done a day in advance and therefore may not be done on Shabas. ...
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Teaching Torah to circumcised non-Jews
In his supercommentary to Rashi Genesis 7:2, R. Yissechar Ber Eilenberg cites the following from his teacher R. Mordecha Yaffe:
וטעם שאסור ללמוד תורה לגוי הוא מפני הערלה שבו ויש בו סוד שלא להכניס ...
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What is the maximum age for Metzitza?
Part of the bris ceremony is metzitza.
I was told that after a certain age (of the boy) it is not done (meaning an adult who gets a bris does not get metzitza).
Is this true?
What is the age?
Source ...
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Were Benei Noach chayiv in Priah u'Reviah and Bris Milah before Sinai?
The Gemara in Sanhedrin 59a says that any mitzvah given to Benei Noach and repeated at Har Sinai, generally speaking, was given to both groups. Thus, both groups are given the issur of Avodah Zarah, ...
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Use of phrase ברוך הבא
Based on what I have seen I Nusach Ashkenaz siddurim such as Art Scroll and Birnbaum, among some others, I noticed the phrase ברוך הבא is used at the beginning of a Brit (circumcision) when welcoming ...
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Who says צִוָּה vs. צַוֵּה at a b'ris?
The passage "על כן בשכר זאת קל חי חלקנו צורנו צוה להציל ידידות שארנו משחת" is part of one of the blessings recited at a b'ris mila. Pische S'shuva (Yore Dea 265:4) cites a difference of opinion as to ...
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Understanding ערלים comparisons
In Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer chapter 29 (uncensored version), we read:
ולמה מלן, בשביל הטהרה שלא יטמאו את אדניהם במאכליהם ובמשתיהם, שכל מי שאוכל עם הערל כאלו אוכל עם הכלב, מה הכלב שלא נמול כך הערל שלא ...
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Father of baby is an onen by bris
We know an onen doesn’t perform any positive commandments, what happens if it’s the 8th day for his son and he needs to perform the bris, is he allowed to do that, or make a shliach, or does it get ...
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Can a male child be forced to convert?
I have read that an adoptive parent (for example) can convert a minor child as the change in status is considered to the advantage of the child so it does not need his consent. This child can renounce ...
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Making up tachanun
I davened at the early minyan today. After the later minyan (which was already under way by the time we finished Avinu Malkeinu) there is a bris scheduled. Therefore, we did not say tachanun, as per ...
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Are gentile circumcisions a sign from God?
A ger tzedek friend of mine told me that he had been circumcised long before his conversion. Another question on bris milah through MY mentioned 55% of non-Jews are circumcised at birth. He mentioned ...
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Questions on the Netziv's understanding of Isaac's birth
Haamek Davar to Vayera 18:12 (and, to a lesser extent, the surrounding verses) and Harchev Davar (by the same author) to Vayera 21:3 explain Sarah's laughter on learning that she and Abraham would ...
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Is a non-Jew who was Sandek in non-Orthodox brit allowed to be sandek again after conversion?
A few articles like here speak of a custom amongst non-religious groups allowing non-Jews, women, and otherwise to be sandek despite halacha or minhag. It happens whether unfortunate or not. But if '...
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Why does the mohel fill his mouth with a small amount of wine during the Metzitzah B’peh of a bris?
While not all Jews practice this aspect of circumcision, some include a ritual known as Metzitzah B’peh (the oral suction of blood from the boy's wound)
I'm aware that the Gemara indicates this was ...
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Honoring your Mohel
Is it brought down anywhere that one should show honor to the one who circumcised him, since he is the one who brought him into the covenant etc.?
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Did Abraham use a flint knife for circumcision and/or for the akedah?
I've seen it queried why Tzipporah and Joshua use/are commanded to use flint knives for the circumcisions they perform (Exodus 4:25, Joshua 5:3) when they had access to metal (bronze) knives in that ...
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Details of the origin of the term "מושך ערלתו"
Without going into much detail, the idea is totally inapplicable in our Halachic reality because we cut the ערלה completely. I understood that in rabbinic times where the term originated, that wasn't ...
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The Sandek being called the 'ba'al bris' and not the Mohel
I received the following excerpt from a friend that comes from HaRav Moshe Wolfson's shlita (the Mashgiach of Mesvita Torah Vodaas) Emunas Itecha:
Translation:
And with this we can understand that ...
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An uncertain end for an uncircumcised baby?
According to this article, a circumcised person cannot enter Gehinnom. It is for this reason that a stillborn baby is circumcised.
So what happens to a stillborn baby that is buried without ...
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Sources on mystical and spiritual meaning of Brit Milah?
What are some good sources discussing the mystical and spiritual meaning of Brit Milah as well as how it affects one's spirit/life/etc?
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What is the source and meaning of the word מהול?
I am trying to get to the bottom of what the word מהול means in the context of being circumcised.
I can't find it used in Mishna or Talmud, but by the Rishonim and Medrashim it is commonly used to ...
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Who customarily wears a tallis by a bris?
By the ceremony of a bris milah there are many "kibbudim" or honors that are given to those that are present.
Here is the list (please edit and add if I missed any):
Kvater - a man and woman who ...
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How long after a Bris of his son can the Father make the bracha?
I'll pose the following scenario in order to ask this question.
During the recent war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a man was called up to duty. On one of the days that he was found in the South,...
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Abraham circumcision?
As we know in our today's world, a sentence can be understood if the vocabulary of the words which are in that sentence is also already understood.
But if there is a vocabulary which is not already ...
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Bris mila/ sefira haomer
Are there any connections between the mitzva of mila and sefiras Haomer (besides that the father of baby and sandak can have a haircut during the sefira)?
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Bris Milah vs Bris Periah and Deuteronomy 4
Full disclosure I am not Jewish. This is (it sadly needs to be said) not meant to be anti-Semitic in any way, shape or form, but it's an honest question. I am not that familiar with the Talmud or oral ...
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Maybe Avraham didn't do the mitzvah of milah earlier because his mitzvah was to do it at 99 years old?
There is a famous question asked: Since Avraham Avinu observed all the mitzvos of his own accord, (kedushin 82a, Yevamos 28b) Why did he not circumcise himself before Hashem commanded him to at the ...
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Tachanun during the mincha before a bris
According to this answer (and a number of other discussions on the web) one does not say tachanun during the mincha on the day before the relevant simcha-day.
Would this include a case where a baby ...
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Could the narrative of Exodus 4:24-26 have happened at another moment in time?
HaShem commands Moshe to do ׳all wonders׳ which HaShem appointed in his hand before Pharaoh once he arrives in Egypt (Shemot 4:21), but despite all wonders - HaShem informs Moshe - Pharaoh will not ...
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Pesach circumcision a rememberance of the covenant made with Avraham?
Within the narrative of the story of the covenant and promise made with Avraham we learn a couple of things. One of those things is that the seed of Avraham will be gerim in a land not theirs. It's ...
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Does the sandek have to hold the babies feet?
The sandek is the person who holds the baby when the mohel makes the bris. Generally this honor is given to a grandparent or very righteous person. In many cases when preparing the baby to perform the ...
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Can someone make one se'udah for both a bris and a wedding on the same day?
A woman marries a divorced man (well...until today.) The man wants to make a brit for his son (from his previous wife) on the same day as the brit. To save money, he wants to make a combination se'...
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Did Maimonides covertly condemn circumcision?
Leo Strauss argued that sophisticated writers communicate ideas through many layers of meaning and abstraction using rhetorical stratagems including self-contradiction and hyperbole to convey their ...
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