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I am an eighth generation MOHEL. My father was an Orthodox rabbi,
born in Jerusalem and ordained there by the late Chief Rabbi Cook
and also at the Yeshiva University in New York. In 1933 he became
the official MOHEL of the Philadelphia Jewish Hospital, later to
be called the Albert Einstein Medical Center. I recieved intensive
operating-room on-the-job training at that hospital. For years I
traveled, watched and studied BRIT MILAH with my father. In 1951,
at the age of 16, I performed my first BRIS, under his very close
supervision, and decided that I would join him in our legacy careers
together. That same year I became the cantor of an Orthodox synagogue
and have been serving in both capacities since then. I have performed
between 30,000 and 40,000 circumcisions during that time. I have
shared training responsibilities with my father to several dozen
students. I also guest-lecture a course in Practical Rabbinics at
the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. I have been called to
serve in almost half of the United States and in Canada.
I choose not to repetitiously include the fundamentalistic
laws and customs, and in some cases superstitions of the BRIS that
can be found elsewhere, in several of the other MOHEL websites.
Remember, too, that some of the customs presented in those other
websites are flavored by the personal history and geographic background
of the writer. The Jewish people have traveled, settled in, and
absorbed more of the flavors and cultures of our planet than probably
any other group. The BRIS ceremony depictions you will find, will
certainly reflect those travels. In following pages, I will try
to show how joyous and comfortable the ceremony can be for all,
if the baby is the focus of the event. I will also try to stay sensitive
to those of you who do not have the background and knowledge of
this ceremony. This will always be a "work in progress". I will
make available to you information I share with my students and families,
such as an Orientation Package and Aftercare Instructions that I
send to all potential and actual clients on request. I want you
to feel as positive about my life's journey as I do.
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