Mohel

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Jew trained in the practice of brit milah

title: "Mohel" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mohalim", "jewish-religious-occupations", "circumcision"] description: "Jew trained in the practice of brit milah" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohel" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Jew trained in the practice of brit milah ::

A he ( , Ashkenazi pronunciation , plural: {{Script/Hebrew|מוֹהֲלִים}} he , arc, 'circumciser') is a Jewish man trained in the practice of he, the 'covenant of male circumcision'. A woman who is trained in the practice is referred to as a mohelet ().

Etymology

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The noun he (arc in Aramaic), meaning "circumciser", is derived from the same verb stem as he (circumcision). The noun appeared for the first time in the 4th century as the title of a circumciser (Shabbat (Talmud) 156a).

Origins of circumcision in Judaism

Main article: Religious male circumcision#In the Tanakh

For Jews, male circumcision is mandatory, as it is prescribed in the Torah. In the Book of Genesis, it is described as a mark of the covenant of the pieces between Yahweh and the descendants of Abraham: {{blockquote| And God said unto Abraham: 'And as for thee, thou shalt keep My covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt Me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant.'}}

In Leviticus:

Functions

Biblically, the infant's father (he) is commanded to perform the circumcision himself. However, as most fathers are not comfortable or do not have the training, they designate a he or he. he are specially trained in circumcision and the rituals surrounding the procedure. Many he are doctors or rabbis (some are both) or cantors, and today are required to receive appropriate training, both religious and medical.

Traditionally, he use a scalpel to circumcise the newborn. Today, doctors and some non-Orthodox he use a perforating clamp before they cut the skin. The clamp makes it easier to be precise and shortens recovery time. Orthodox he have rejected perforating clamps, arguing that by crushing and killing the skin it causes a great amount of unnecessary pain to the newborn, cutting off the blood flow completely, which according to Jewish law is dangerous to the child and strictly forbidden, and also renders the he (foreskin) as cut prior to the proper ritual cut.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Mohelbuch.jpg" caption="Jewish Museum of Switzerland's]] collection."] ::

Under Jewish law, he must draw blood from the circumcision wound. Most he do it by hand with a suction device, but some follow the traditional practice of doing it by mouth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning in 2012 about the health implications of the latter practice, citing eleven cases of neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) and two recorded fatalities. A 2013 review of cases of neonatal HSV infections in Israel identified ritual circumcision as the source of HSV-1 transmission in 31.8% of the cases.

Many he continue the practice of listing the names and birthdates of the boys they circumcise in little booklets. These books have become important documents for genealogical scholarship. Increasingly, these notes on circumcision are being digitized.

Women

According to traditional Jewish law, if no Jewish male expert is available, a Jewish woman who has the required skills is also authorized to perform the circumcision. Non-Orthodox Judaism allows women to be he ({{Script/Hebrew|מוֹהֲלוֹת}}, plural of {{Script/Hebrew|מוֹהֶלֶת}}, he, feminine of he), without restriction. In 1984, Deborah Cohen became the first Reform Jewish he to be certified (by the Berit Mila Program of Reform Judaism).

In popular culture

In the popular sitcom Seinfeld, a he played by Charles Levin appears in the episode The Bris.
In the parody film Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Rabbi Tuckman (a parody of Friar Tuck, played by Mel Brooks) serves as Nottingham's "mohel extraordinaire" using a miniature guillotine.
"Weird Al" Yankovic's song Pretty Fly for a Rabbi, a parody of Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), contains the line "The parents pay the mohel and he gets to keep the tip!"
In the Rugrats Hanukkah episode, the characters walk through the town center of ancient Israel past a shop titled he advertising a "cut rate"
Philip Sherman, one of the most prolific mohalim in the United States, was called America's Top Mohel" and "the busiest mohel in New York" in national and regional media

References

Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 264:1
"Laws of Bris Milah".
Lawrence, Eliezer. (December 18, 2019). "What is A Mohel?".
Maslin, Simeon J.. (1979). "Gates of Mitzvah: A Guide to the Jewish Life Cycle". [[Central Conference of American Rabbis]]. Committee on Reform Jewish Practice.
Bloch, Abraham P.. (1980). "The Biblical and historical background of Jewish customs". KTAV Publishing House.
{{bibleverse. Genesis. 17:9-14. HE
{{bibleverse. Leviticus. 12:1-3. HE
Gesundheit. (August 2004). "Neonatal genital herpes simplex virus type 1 infection...". Pediatrics.
Gesundheit. (February 2005). "Infectious complications with herpes virus after ritual Jewish circumcision: a historical and cultural analysis". Harefuah.
Ben-Yami, Hanoch. (2013). "Circumcision: What should be done?". J Med Ethics.
Hartog, Kelly. (17 February 2005). "Death spotlights old circumcision rite".
[https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/rabbi-probed-circumcised-infants-herpes-flna1c9448639 Rabbi probed for circumcised infants' herpes], nbcnews.com, 2 February 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
(2003). "Primary genital herpes simplex infection associated with Jewish ritual circumcision". Isr Med Assoc J.
(June 2013). "Penile herpes simplex virus type 1 infection presenting two and a half years after Jewish ritual circumcision of an infant". Sex Transm Dis.
(8 June 2012). "CDC: Neonatal HSV Infection from Circumcision-Related Orogenital Suction". Morb Mortal Wkly Rep.
Amir Koren. (2013). "Neonatal Herpes Simplex virus infections in Israel". Pediatr Infect Dis J.
(2022). "Birth Culture. Jewish Testimonies from Rural Switzerland and Environs".
Talmud Avodah Zarah 27a; Menachot 42a; Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, Milah, 2:1; [[Shulkhan Arukh]], Yoreh De'ah, 264:1
"Berit Mila Program of Reform Judaism".
(7 December 2015). "A Maccababy's Gotta Do What a Maccababy's Gotta Do". Nicktoons.
(October 19, 2009). "'He's the Busiest Mohel in New York'". [[New York Magazine]].
Cramer, Philissa. (August 10, 2023). "Cantor Philip Sherman, the 'busiest mohel in New York,' dies at 67". [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]].

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