Questions tagged [brit-milah]
Questions about circumcision (brit-milah in Hebrew)
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Can the Sandak be a non-Jew?
This question discusses other roles a non-Jew could take in a bris but leaves the Sandak question open:
Can a non-Jewish person participate in a bris?
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Why does a convert receive bris milah before the mikvah?
Why does the convert have his bris before the mikvah rather than afterwards as a Jew? Seemingly the bris done before is not a mitzvah so why not have him do bris milah after the mikvah?
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Anesthetics during Brit milah [duplicate]
Is it permissible to use Anesthetics (for the purpose of pain relief) during circumcision (Brit milah)? I would imagine it would not be problematic per se, but perhaps being conscious is preferable ...
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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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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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Why is circumcision the physical representation of the covenant when Ancient Egyptians also practised circumcision? Shouldn't it be unique to Jews?
Throughout Jewish history, circumcision signifies the covenant between the Jewish people and G-d, blessed be He, as the Torah says (Genesis 17:11).
However, male circumcision is also one of the oldest ...
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Elijah's Presence
I do not have the source for this, but have heard that Elijah the Prophet attends every Brit Milah.
In this lecture by Yosef Mizrachi, in the first 2 minutes he goes on to say that even after the Brit ...
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Circumcision once then blood drawn
When a gentile is already circumcised and wants to convert to Judaism, blood has to be drawn from his penis. Why is this? What's the point?
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Tzafnat Panei’ach
I’m looking for some help with Tzafnat Panei’ach’s commentary to Genesis 17:23 (pages 137-138 of this PDF). Specifically:
The author queries whether Abraham circumcised himself before his household, ...
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Bris on Erev Tisha B'Av?
I seem to recall reading/seeing that one cannot serve meat at a bris on the 8th of Av (assume not on Shabbos) but I can't find it now.
Does anyone know a source that says this?
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Segulah to Heal Jaundice Baby for Bris
This site quotes the Steipler saying that it is a segulah to wash a baby's hands (like "negel vasser" when a person wakes up) if it has jaundice that may delay the bris milah. Is this ...
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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 ...
user19194
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What defines a person who is circumcised "of the heart"?
Circumcisions of the heart are a topic which I've seen mentioned a couple of times but never really delved into. While the word circumcision is used to describe it, the mark cannot be equated to true ...
user15672
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Wrong brocho made at a bris for a ger?
I was learning Yoreh Deah Hilchos Geirim and couldn't find any commentators explanation as to what should be done if the normal bris milah blessings were made for the circumcision of a convert.
It ...
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Minyan for Brit Milah, Funeral & Wedding
Is a Minyan required for a Brit Mila/circumcision, funeral/burial, or for a wedding/Chuppa?
Usually they tend to be done in the presence of a Minyan but is it an obligation and are there any ...
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If someone's foreskin grew back, would he need a second Bris Milah?
Theoretically speaking, if someone's foreskin grew back after his Bris Milah, would he need another Bris Milah? Is the idea that the Bris be permanent, and if the foreskin were to grow back, it would ...
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Does a brit milah require the se'udah to be on the same day?
Suppose that an infant is healthy enough to have his brit (circumcision) on the eight day, but the doctor recommends that infant should not be exposed to a large crowd. So, they have the brit in the ...
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Is there a scientific basis for the claim that the 3rd day from the circumcision is the most painful and dangerous? [duplicate]
Is there a scientific basis for the claim that the third day from the day of a circumcision is the most painful and dangerous?
In Mishana (shabbath 19,3)
מרחיצין את הקטן בין לפני המילה ובין לאחר ...
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