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I have a friend - let's call him 'A' - who's married; His wife gave birth to a boy. I asked another friend of mine, if 'A' invited him to the bris. He told me that one is not supposed to invite friends to their child's bris.

Does anyone know if there is source for this?

2 Answers 2

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Perhaps they are referring to the idea mentioned here.

That is one shouldn't invite anyone to a bris as declining such an invitation would be bad (Rema Yoreh Deah 265:12). But if you don't receive an invitation at all, one can choose not to show up.

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    Welcome to MiYodeya. I hope you continue to participate. Please look around as you will find many interesting questions and answers. Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 16:38
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    I'd like to second Gershon's welcome. This is really a great answer, +1
    – MTL
    Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 16:39
  • My son's bris was at my parents house and we had a minyan that morning too so we needed at least 10 men. We announced it. Quite a few relatives obviously helped make up the numbers, and some friends.
    – CashCow
    Commented Dec 3, 2014 at 10:41
  • @CashCow I don't have a source for this beyond "what people say," but my understanding is that an announcement is different from an invitation -- an announcement lets people know that the event is happening, whereas an invitation is a request for that person to show up.
    – MTL
    Commented Dec 3, 2014 at 16:52
  • @Shokhet See the Pischei Teshuvah linked in my answer below. It seems that he's talking about an announcement.
    – user9643
    Commented Feb 24, 2019 at 2:42
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Pischei Teshuvah (YD 265:18) quotes Teshuvos Makom Shmuel (responsa #80), who in turn quotes the Sharvit Hazahav, that people should not be invited to a bris, because if they don't show up in the end (for whatever reason) they would be held in excommunication by heaven.

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