Hot answers tagged brit-milah
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after the circumcision, the foreskin is buried (some prepare a dish with dirt in it to "bury" the foreskin immediately). Some bury it in earth that has a new tree planted in it as a symbolic connection but the operative point is respect and burial for the body part.
cf Do surgically removed body parts require Kevurah?
the comments on the question which ...
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The Rambam in Mishna Torah Hilchos Milah 1:7 says that someone who has 2 Orlos they make the Bris for both on the 8th day.
ומי שיש לו שתי ערלות, מלין את שתיהן בשמיני.
The Aruch HaShulchan Yoreh Deah 262:13 and the Sefer Minchas Ani - Hilchos Milah 13 says that although the Bris is done on the 8th day by such a child it would not be done on the 8th day ...
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Chizkuni asks this and offers two answers:
The reason the Egyptians were circumcised was because of the hunger of the famine. Yosef however was rich and therefore the only reason he would circumcise himself would be if he was Jewish.
Although all the Egyptians were in fact circumcised, the brothers were not aware of this this and would recognize Yosef on ...
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From part of my answer here:
The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Likutei Sichot Volume 5, page 146) gives a very practical reason why Avraham waited to have a bris. Rashi explains that G-d's commandment to Noach after the flood, forbidding spilling a mans blood (Genesis 9:6) applies to spilling ones own blood as well. As such, Avraham was legally unable to circumcise ...
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No they are not Jewish.
Judaism is inherited from the mother. Having or not having a bris has no effect on if a person is Jewish.
I'm a little surprised the child had a brit - usually the mohel (person doing the circumcision) checks first if the child is actually Jewish to avoid situations like this. Perhaps it was a medical circumcision not a brit?
Also, ...
6
ואם לא מל, חייב כרת. הגה: ובכל יום עוברים בעונשין אלו.
And if he was not circumcised, he receives Karet (Spiritual Excision). Gloss: And he receives this punishment each day. (Shulchan Aruch YD 261:1)
CYLOM for a practical ruling, but it seems from the above that the milah should be scheduled as soon as possible to avoid excessive Karet.
(I'll ...
6
Your question is really the other way around. Generally speaking it's the person who does the mitzva action that says the bracha (Rambam Brachot 11:10). In the case of an aliyah, you are right that in most congregations an appointed reader is designated to read each persons portion out loud and with proper cantillation; however Shulchan Aruch (OC 141:2) ...
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Shaalos U'Teshuvos Atzei Broshim Siman 57 brings in the name of the Avudram and also in the Bais Yosef Yoreh Deah 265 that a parent has a Chiyuv to teach a child Torah and to make their Chuppa, and then it is the childs responsibility to do Maasim Tovim.
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Regarding the Milah, the Shulchan Aruch states (YD 261) that if the father doesn't circumcise his son, the obligation to ensure he is circumcised devolves onto the local Beit Din.
Regarding the name, the Ritva (Responsum 158) seems to take it for granted that an orphan son will be named after the now-dead father. Presumably the same would apply for ...
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From KolTorah.org
The Maharal commenting on Rashi, answers that
this was the way the people back then made Shevu’ot; the one swearing would place their hands under the other thigh of the person he is swearing to (as the Ibn Ezra points out in his commentary to Breishit 24:2 and confirmed by Da’at Mikra ad. loc.). Yaakov thought that if he did not do ...
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Questions 1 and 2:
O Ch 131 (4) MB [24] says that those davenning in the courtyard which does not have a separate ark or amud are included in the same law as the main synagogue with respect to not saying tachanun when there is a choson or a bris.
(The “Dirshu” MB in note 21 on O Ch 131 (4) MB [24] writes that the Ladies Area “Ezras Noshim” is considered ...
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Regarding adult Brit for conversion where the man is not previously cirucumcised at least according to some people they do. Rav Mordechai Eliyahu writes such in his sefer on Milah Ozer Eliyahu 264:4. Rav Shlomo Shochet also writes that it is necessary in his sefer Milah Shleimah, 4:29(also see the Teshuvot he brings in chapter 12 and 13). His text is the ...
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Rabbi Yitzchok Sender Kuperman Z"L in a lengthy piece in HaPardes #68 Vol 3 concludes that there is really no problem switching and using a different Mohel if you have any reason. Reasons can include that the new Mohel is better, a relative, a Talmid Chacham, you owe him a favor, etc.
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Maaseh Rav.
My son’s bris was delayed over 5 weeks. It was summertime. The mohel came one afternoon maybe 2 hours before shki’a and said we could do the bris that day. Most of the family were living 200 miles away and could not have attended.
I asked my Rav (who is widely respected in the Community) who said that we should go ahead that day as long as ...
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The בית הלוי explains (I forgot where) that you cannot have a one-sided contract. Therefore, even though Avraham kept all the מצוות before they were commanded, the מצוה of ברית מילה was untenable before Avraham was commanded, as the whole point is a ברית between 'ה and Avraham, and it wouldn't really be a contract without 'ה commanding Avraham.
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The earliest source would seem to be the Mishna Shabbat 19:2. It is brought in the Rambam (Milah 2:2) and the Shulchan Aruch (YD 264:3) as well.
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The Tshuvos Venanhagos says that while R' Chaim Brisker allowed Mohelim to do a Metzitza with a short pipette when there was a tuberculosis epidemic, the Tshuvos Vehanhagos says that one should avoid relying on this heter.
Moreover, he quotes the Levush Mordechai writes that Metzitza is not just for health reasons but is actually part of the Mitzvah.
The ...
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The Midrash records a discussion of this issue (from vbm-torah.org). R' Akiva explains that God created the world and man so that man can improve it:
"Once the evil [Roman governor] Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva, 'Whose
deeds are greater - God's or man's?' He replied, 'Man's deeds are
greater.' Turnus Rufus asked him, 'Is man then capable of ...
3
It would seem (because I don't see it in the Mishna) that the earliest usage is the Tosefta Brachot 6:12 (7:12 in some editions):
המוהל צריך ברכה לעצמו או' ברוך על המילה
The Mohel must make a blessing himself [even if he is not the father?]. He says, "Baruch [...] Al HaMilah."
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According to Mordechai Halperin, in "הקדמת קריאת שם היילוד אשר מילתו מתעכבת עקב מחלה", our Minhag of naming the child right after the Berit Milah is mentioned neither in the Talmud( Shabbat 137b) nor in the Mishneh Torah( in the beginning of Hilkhot Milah Ch. 3).
Moreover, both Ba'al ha-Itur( mentioned by the Tur Yoreh De'ah 265), and the Abudraham( in ...
3
A couple of other pertinent sources not cited here:
- The Chida (Yosef Ometz 85) allows the MOTHER of the child to be a sandeket;
- The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Peilim Helek 4, Sod Yesharim, 11) notes that the Zohar equates being a sandak with the bringing of the ketoret - a job reserved for men – such that, "l'hathila", a man should be the Sandak, but implying ...
3
@Gershon's answer is spot on. But just in case not everyone agrees, I will offer another. You state in your comment that there are many ma'amarei chazal which state that Avraham was the first person to circumcise himself. This leads you to the presumption that Terach did not have a bris at all.
However see Rashi on 15:15 from Bereshis Rabbah 30:4 that ...
3
From here:
This explains a curious detail of Abraham's behavior related by the Torah. When Abraham wanted his servant, Eliezer, to take an oath, he told him to "place your hand under my thigh"(Genesis 24:2). An oath is taken while holding a sacred object such as a Torah scroll or tefillin; here Abraham is telling Eliezer to swear on the part of his own ...
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The gemara strongly implies that metzitzah is done for health reasons. Nowadays, we can follow that tradition safely by doing it with a tube. It seems ironic to to follow the gemara's health-suggestions in a way (b'peh) that we know to cause health-risks. However, some groups feel that there are other reasons for doing Metzitzah and that it should still be ...
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According to Talmud (Yevamot 71-72) the reason circumcision was not practiced in the desert is:
Because of the hardships of the way - a 40 year journey is no joke. Since is would have been dangerous for someone right after circumcision to get on the road, and they had no choice but to be on the road, they waited until the trek was over.
Because there was ...
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A friend of mine had a delayed bris for his son. He said the psak he got was that if it is delayed because the baby is yellow, then you do it as soon as possible after the jaundice has cleared. If it was because the baby was sick with something else, you wait a week before doing the Bris to make sure the baby is healthy. See here where it references the same ...
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http://www.aish.com/ci/sam/48964686.html
Devarim Rabbah 6:1 states that God had pity on the child and instead
of requiring circumcision immediately after birth, waited until the
baby was stronger. This strength may be physical (Moreh Nevuchim 3:49)
or spiritual (as discussed above regarding the Sabbath). Other reasons
given are so that the baby ...
2
This article briefly touches on this subject; the only real substantial additional source she sites is the Seforno to Vayikra 17:4 (though she probably means 17:7, who was prceeded by Rabbeinu Bachya [ben asher] on Dvarim 12:23). Unsourced are claims by Rabbi Menachem Zioni that vampires were associated with migdal bavel and a broad proclamation that ...
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To add to the question, according to Midrash Tanchuma (cited by Rashi on Vayera), Avraham was initially quite reluctant to perform brit milah and was persuaded to do so only after consulting Mamre.
in the plains of Mamre: He [Mamre] was the one who counseled him about circumcision. Therefore, He appeared to him [Abraham] in his [Mamre’s] territory. — ...
2
The Riva (commentary on the Torah to the end of Pashas Lech Lecha) explains that Bris Milah is a mitzvah that can only be performed once a lifetime. Since the Gemora (Kiddushin 31a) concludes that it is preferable to keep something out of obligation rather than voluntarily, Abraham waited till he was commanded to fulfill the mitzvah in the best way possible.
...
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