Does My Son Need a Traditional Bris?

This is a very well written article. It explains very clearly why a ritual circumcision (Bris) is much preferred rather than a surgical circumcision. Reply

Knowing that my infant son might not survive birth (but he did, and lived for almost 3 hours! Baruch Ha'Shem!), I arranged in advance to have him receive a brit milah post-mortem. The mohel did such a wonderful act of chesed for us!

It was very important to me (the baby's mother) that he go to Olam Haba with his body properly marked as a Jew. Reply

Here are 2 concerns that I have:

1) I would make sure that the mohel is a kosher mohel (Torah observant Jew). A non-frum relative of mine has used a mohelet (lady mohel), who arrived wearing non-tzniut clothing. She was not frum.

If the person writing the question does not know the difference between Brit Milah and circumcision, they may not be aware of the importance of performing the rite in a Halachically kosher way.

2) I remember reading (not sure where) that a Jewish father who does not perform/arrange for brit milah for his son loses his Olam HaBah. (This may not matter now to the non-observant Jew, but it will after he's nifter ... ) And we know what happened to Moshe Rabbenu when he forgot to perform brit milah on his second son, Eliezer. Zippora to the rescue!

{ As a baalit teshuva, I am always sensitive about getting partial or incomplete advice. Torah d'Oraita tells us not to put a stumbling block in front of a blind person. } Reply

I suppose one could say, it's old fashioned. In the high school shower room, I would have been mortified if I had been uncircumcised. I honestly have no idea what I would have done.

When years later, I discovered that it had been in a hospital and no one knew whether was done by a surgeon - mole combo, I had it ritually re-done. I am really very assimilated, but still part of the Jewish People. Thus, certain things have to be strictly kosher for my own peace of mind. I agree with the rabbi. There is no reason to make your son wait until he's adult. As Nike says, Just Do it! Reply

I was not Jewish when my son was born. He was not offered anything for pain control except some sugar syrup (honestly that's all they gave him 18 years ago) and I was upset watching my baby cry after he was medically circumcised. I was told that he would have had a drop of wine or spirits on his gums if I'd been Jewish back then and it had been done by a mohel. Is this usually the case? I think that would be more kind than offering nothing...not that I'm advocating giving alcohol to children but it's the same as giving anesthetic to them in this case. Reply

Also important to note that the circumcision in the hospital is usually done by an intern med student and that they don't allow the parents to be present. The baby cries tremendously and only stops once they fall asleep and then are returned to the parents. Also the baby is circumcised at younger than 8 days when the baby's ability to stop bleeding is much less developed.
With the choice of that vs a lovely celebration amongst family and friends where you can be present why would someone choose a hospital? Reply

To suggest that a surgical circumcision may require additional future surgery and possible complications is misleading. As a physician, when I performed medical circumcisions on newborns, a stainless steel cup fit over the end of the penis and under the foreskin. A sterile scalpel was used to cut the foreskin. The tip of the penis was protected from the scalpel blade by the steel cup. There was minimal bleeding. Reply

I was actually reading a story, I believe on chabad.org, where the doctor advised the parents to use a mohel rather than a surgeon since it was an older baby and the doctor felt a mohel, being so much more experienced, is better qualified to do a perfect, safe job. Reply

What about performing a circumcision on an adult male? For an adult male-over the age of 40 yrs. age-wouldn't a surgeon be preferred? Do Mohels circumcise older adult men-not teenagers?
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