Questions tagged [brit-milah]
Questions about circumcision (brit-milah in Hebrew)
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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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Two contradictory statements regarding Noach and periah
Zohar chelek 3, page 166a states that Noach didn’t have a periah.
נֹחַ גָּזִיר הֲוָה, וְתָמִים, פְּרִיעָה לָא הֲוָה בֵּיהּ
Noach was circumcised and complete, a periah he did not have.
Despite not ...
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Sheva Brachos at a Bris
If a Chosson & Kallah during the first week they got married attended a Bris, should the assembled recite Sheva Brachos after Bentching?
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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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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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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 ...
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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 ...
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Abrahamic covenant and Brit Milah - how is the covenant passed down?
Why is it so that if a Jew has a male child with a non-Jewish woman the child is not circumcised, even though, like Ishmail, the child is under Abrahamic (but not Mosaic) covenant, since the father is ...
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Why wait eight days to remove the orloh (foreskin) given that it is considered מאוס (repulsive)?
The Talmud often says that someone with an orloh (foreskin) is disgusting (e.g. Yevamot 71a). The Steinsaltz Edition explains:
ומעירים: ואיצטריך למכתב [והוצרך לכתוב] "ערל", ואיצטריך למכתב [...
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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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Explanation for episode with Moshe's near death at the hotel
Exodus 4:24-26 describes one of the strangest stories in the Chumash. Moshe was on his way to save the Jewish people, and the Torah says that he stayed with his wife and children in a hotel. Next, we'...
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Recent convert brit-milah question
How does one's foreskin grow back, and what does one do when it does? Is there anything one can do to prevent it from growing back in the future?
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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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Delaying Circumcision If Umbilical Cord Hasn't Fallen Off?
While studying an Egyptian Halakhic book (Nehar Misrayim) I came across a ruling that a circumcision was pushed off if the umbilical cord hasn't fallen off yet. The book states this was the ...
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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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How did Tzipporah know how to perform circumcision?
I know that circumcision was existent in various nations before and after Matan Torah, and it was and still is practiced with or without the Torah.
What's the difference between a Jewish circumcision ...
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What happens when a potential convert can't have a circumcision? [duplicate]
Suppose a man wants to convert to Judaism but cannot have a circumcision for bio-medical reasons (he has a foreskin, but has hemophilia or some other condition which would make the surgery fatal or ...
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When is a second milah required [duplicate]
When is a second bris milah required?
Is it possible to require a second milah after masturbating for some time?
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Born Circumcised
We know that Iyov, Adam, Shes, Noach, Shem, Yaakov, Yosef, Moshe, Shmuel, Dovid, Kalev ben Dovid, & Yirmiyahu were all born circumcised (which is a very rare occurrence). My nephew was also just ...
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Does a transgender male convert require a Hatafas Dam Bris?
Suppose a transgender male (born female) who's undergone bottom surgery and tattooing to make his genitalia look more masculine decided to convert to Orthodox Judaism.
Would such a person be required ...
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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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Per the claim that Abraham kept the whole Torah, why didn't he circumcise Ishmael and all his slaves earlier?
"Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Thus Abraham and ...
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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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Hypothetical, what should a wife do if she discovers her husband is uncircumcised?
Circumcision is an integral part of Judaism. That being said, there really isn't an "inspection" to verify someone is circumcised. Unless the individual is a convert, there isn't a ...
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Looking for "The Jewish rite of circumcision" (1873) by Asher Asher
A Google search doesn't come up with any proper results at all. A jstor link and a University of Glasgow biography of Asher Asher didn't offer a link to the entirety of this publication.
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Circumcision of Yishmael's descendants
In Bereishit 17:13 we are commanded to circumcise all children born in our households and all servants bought for money, consequently Abraham performed it on Yishmael too. This is one reason why ...
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People born circumcised?
In this discussion, it's stated: "There is a minor tractate in the Talmud called Brit Millah which lists all the people born circumcised."
Can anyone point me towards a copy of this tractate ...
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Why is the foreskin removed?
Why is the foreskin removed? God gave it men, did God also tell them to have it removed?
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Obligation to circumcise and repeatedly regenerating foreskin [duplicate]
From this related question, we can see that someone who deliberately stretches out the skin of their penis to appear uncircumcised is required to undergo a new pseudo-circumcision, and that, in the ...
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Why were the Israelites not circumcised in the desert?
Genesis 21:4 (JPS) And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Starting with Abraham, the Israelite men were circumcised and a boy at the eighth day ...
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Haftarah for a B'rit Milah?
Rema Orach Chayyim 428:8 mentions a custom to read a special haftarah for a shabbat following a wedding.
Was there ever a custom to read a special haftarah for a shabbat on which a b'rit milah took ...
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Seudas Pidyon HaBen and Bris Milah together
If someone had a baby boy and the bris was pushed off until what came out to be the day of the Pidyon HaBen. Can the 2 seudas, one for the Bris and the other for the Pidyon HaBen be made together as ...
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Who performed the bris of Abraham?
It is clear that Abraham understood the Torah, and that he waited to enact his bris until commanded, but who performed it? Did he do it himself, or was someone else instructed to do it, to serve in ...
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Is there any source for not sharing a baby's name before the bris?
For some reason, I have it ingrained in me that a baby boy's name before the bris is a secret and should not be shared. Are there any sources for this, or is it something made up?
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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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How many covenants did Hashem make with Abraham?
How many covenants did Hashem make with Abraham?
When reading Bereshit/Genesis, on the Chabad website, one comes across various passages of Hashem's conversation with Abram/Abraham (chapters 15, 17 ...
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Can a man circumcise himself?
If a man is not circumcised can he perform the mitzvah himself? Aside from issues of pain, and difficulty in the actual cut, can he say the beracha in such a state if he is not covered properly? What ...
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Segulah of Kvatar: Source
Is there a source for the claim that being a Kvater (person who carries a baby to/from his Bris) helps cure infertility?
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Differences of Timing of Se'udah for Brit and Pidyon Haben
Last night, I attended a pidyon haben - a somewhat rare occasion to attend because of various "regulations" on who qualifies for a pidyon.
I noticed during the approximately 10 times I have attended ...
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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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In circumcision, how "Metzitah B'peh" is to be performed?
I know that the origins of Metzitzah practice are those of health reasons, as the contact of blood with human saliva actually helped prevent infections (assuming the Mohel's saliva in itself was not ...
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Rashi's explanation of why we are told that Avram was 86 at the birth of Yishma'el
Bereishit 16:16:
וְאַבְרָ֕ם בֶּן־שְׁמֹנִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֵׁ֣שׁ שָׁנִ֑ים בְּלֶֽדֶת־הָגָ֥ר אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל לְאַבְרָֽם׃
Avram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Yishma'el to Avram.
...
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Hatafas Dam Bris-Performed
How does one perform a Hatafas Dam Bris? What are all the steps in the process? Additionally, what Brachos (if any) are made at a Hatafas Dam Bris?
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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 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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Source that a woman is considered to have a bris milah
I recall learning, I think in mesechtas kiddushin, that a woman is the (halachic?) equivalent of a man who has had a bris milah performed. In other words, since she does not have the same organ she is ...
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Does the Torah Address the Issue of Circumcision on the Sabbath?
Question - a Reference Request from Scripture:
Does the written Torah, (or Scripture), ever address the issue of Circumcision on the Sabbath?
Does Scripture indicate whether Sabbath Restrictions ...
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Why does Eliyahu appear at a brit milah?
There's really not much to add here...
What's the connection between Eliyahu and the Brit Milah? We have a kiseh shel eliyahu (Chair of Eliyahu) and we mention his name when the infant is placed on ...
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Why were women doing Brit Milah to their sons?
Unintentionally bumped into this verse (Macabbees A) that appears to be historically authentic:
והנשים אשר מלו את בניהן הומתו על פי המלך.
(And women who circumcised their sons were executed)
Do ...
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