Mohel

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A mohel (מוהל also mo'el) is a Jewish ritual circumciser who performs a brit milah ritual circumcision on the penis of a male who is to enter the Jewish covenant.

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[edit] Biblical origins

For Jews, circumcision is mandatory, as it is prescribed in the Torah:

  • In the book of Genesis as a mark of the Covenant between God and the descendants of Abraham: "Throughout all generations, every male shall be circumcised when he is eight days old...This shall be my covenant in your flesh, an eternal covenant. The uncircumcised male whose foreskin has not been circumcised, shall have his soul cut off from his people; he has broken my Covenant" [1] (Genesis 17:1-14), and
  • In Leviticus: "God spoke to Moses, telling him to speak to the Israelites: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy...And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised." [2] (Leviticus 12:1-3).

[edit] Functions

In modern-day Judaism, circumcision is usually performed by a specially trained mohel, a specialist in circumcisions and the rituals surrounding the procedure. Many Mohels - at least in the UK - are either doctors or Rabbis (and some are even both). However, all have received appropriate training both from a religious and a medical point of view.

Biblically, the infant's father is commanded to perform the circumcision himself. However, as most fathers are not comfortable or do not have the training, they designate a mohel as a delegate. It is customary that, if possible, a mohel will perform his first circumcision on his own son, under the supervision of his own teacher. Even if his first circumcision isn't on his own son, if he has a son, he must perform the circumcision himself and not ask another Mohel to do so.

The Reform and Conservative movements also train and accredit mohelim—they may even be medical doctors.

[edit] Pop Culture

References to circumcision in popular culture include:

  • The television series Seinfeld aired an episode featuring a "shakey" mohel who accidentally circumsizes Jerry's finger.
  • An episode of the TV series The Nanny featured a circumcision, a full family gathering. Mr. Sheffield's son Brighton was gamely videotaping the family members and the ritual (seen through his camera), not actually knowing what a circumcision was until he witnessed it; whereupon the image through the camera rolled wildly, as Brighton passed out.
  • The television series Freak Show features a two-part episode called Mohel-Me-Not, where Primi is forced to get circumcised in order to continue living in the heavily populated Jewish area in which the Freak Squad had set up shop. After performing the circumcision, the mohel proceeds to apply "oral suction" to the flesh for more than twenty-four hours. In the second part of the episode, Primi's foreskin is used to summon the Jewish Messiah, when combined with all the other Jewish foreskin that is stored in a giant silo.
  • Leo Rosten's book, The Joys of Yiddish, repeats a couple of Mohel stories. One is the old joke, "The rabbi gets the salary, and the mohel gets the tips."
  • Rosten's other story was also repeated by Alan King on an HBO special in 1993. A man discovers his watch has stopped. He sees a storefront with clocks in the window. He enters and asks the storekeeper what the problem is with his watch. The man answers, "How should I know? I'm a mohel." When the puzzled customer asks why he has clocks in the window, the Mohel answers, "So, what would you put in the window?"
  • The episode of South Park titled Ike's Wee Wee features a mohel wielding a circumcision tool shaped like a Canadian maple leaf (since Ike is Canadian).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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