The circumcision
According to the biblical commandment, it is actually the father’s obligation to perform the circumcision of his son on the eighth day—but most fathers are not surgically trained and are not familiar with the proper blessings for the brit milah ceremony. Therefore, they will engage a mohel as a “substitute” to perform the religious service and the circumcision for them. The transfer of authority from the father to the mohel has to be explicit; as part of the brit milah service the mohel will ask the father if he wishes to have him (the mohel) act for him in fulfilling the commandment/mitzvah of having his son circumcised. Usually—and hopefully—the father says “yes” and the service proceeds. If for whatever reason there is no father involved in the brit milah ceremony, then the mother, mothers, or other legal guardian of the baby will assume all of the roles that would traditionally be assigned to the father.
An interesting situation arises when the baby’s father is surgically trained—not that unlikely a situation as many Jews do go into medicine—and would be capable of performing the circumcision. In this situation it is up to the father and the mohel to work out who will do what during the circumcision part of the brit milah ceremony.
What makes a bris “kosher”?
There are certain elements of a brit milah ceremony that must be adhered to for a bris to be considered legitimate:
- The brit milah ceremony should be on the eighth day from the birth of the baby with the exceptions noted previously. Ideally it should be performed in the morning but at least should be done during daylight.
- The basic elements of the brit milah prayer service should be present:
— The welcoming of the baby
— The reference to Elijah the prophet
— The description of the biblical commandment to circumcise sons on the eighth day
— The acknowledgment that this ritual enters the newborn male into the Covenant between God and the Jewish people
— The father acknowledging that he is fulfilling the mitzvah of having his son circumcised
— The circumcision itself and the blessing over it
— The father’s and mohel’s post circumcision prayers
— The blessing over wine - The circumcision must result in the entire head of the penis being visible.
What about a baby who has already been circumcise before the eighth day?
If a baby has already been circumcised in the hospital without having had a formal brit milah ceremony, he should undergo the ceremony of hatafat dam brit (as described in a subsequent chapter): a brief prayer service with the ceremonial production of a drop of blood from the penis. This should be done on the eighth day from birth if possible or, if not, at the soonest opportunity—but not on Shabbat or a Jewish holiday.
Is a minyan (a group of ten Jews each more than thirteen years of age) necessary for a brit milah ceremony?
While it is preferable to have multiple guests at a bris because the presence of a group increases the celebratory atmosphere of the event, it is not a requirement to do so. The brit milah ceremony can be performed with just immediate family present, with just the parents, or under unusual circumstances, with just the mohel, the baby, and his attendants.
Is presence of clergy necessary?
No. A mohel is fully versed in the laws of the brit milah ceremony and is capable of performing both it and the accompanying announcement of the baby’s Hebrew name.
That having been said, if a family does have an association with a rabbi or cantor—perhaps through membership in a synagogue—and wishes to have that clergy member present, it is entirely appropriate to do so. In fact, having clergy present at a brit milah ceremony is only to be encouraged as it adds to the religious significance of the event. The mohel and the rabbi or cantor will decide between themselves what part of the service each will do.
Candles
Having candles present at a brit milah ceremony increases the formality and beauty of the event even though lighting candles is not a formal part of the service.
There is a custom concerning candle lighting at a bris dating back to a time when doing a ritual circumcision was forbidden to Jews. Lighted candles in the window of a Jewish home approximately a week after the birth of a male baby clandestinely notified Jewish neighbors that the brit milah was taking place and that they were invited to participate in the ceremony and festive meal to follow.
Standing during the brit milah ceremony
It is customary that when the newborn boy is brought into the room for the brit milah ceremony all who are able rise to honor him and remain standing during the service. This honors both the newborn who is entering the Covenant and the Covenant itself. This custom is ascribed to the phrase in the book of Malachi II 23:3, “and the nation stood at the Covenant”.
Customs of the more traditionally religious
Shalom Zachar
This is the celebration with a festive meal the Friday night after a baby is born and before the brit milah ceremony. This tradition is especially observed if, for health reasons, the baby will not be able to have his brit milah on the eighth day.
Night of Vigil—Vach nacht
Arising in a more superstitious era, this custom was intended to ward off evil spirits that might interfere with the next day’s brit milah ceremony. It involved the men of the family keeping a vigil in the room with the sleeping baby while studying Torah. The evening before the bris, the baby’s siblings, if any, were also led into the room where the baby was to sleep and were helped by adults to recite prayers next to the crib of the infant. They were then given sweets and coins—perhaps a precursor to today’s practice of giving siblings “a present from the baby” to help ward off jealousy.
Crib presents
An old Eastern European custom, friends and relatives of the family would place sugar, raisins, cake, and coins into a baby’s crib “so that the child might have a sweet and rich life”.
Planting a tree
One of the oldest Jewish practices connected with the birth of a child is that of planting a cedar tree to mark the birth of a boy or a pine or cypress to commemorate the arrival of a girl. In some communities this custom went so far as to use the wood from the now-grown tree as supporting poles for the chuppah when the child eventually got married.
A more modern version of this custom is to donate to the Jewish National Fund to have a tree planted in Israel in honor of the birth of the newborn.
Giving to charity
Tzedakah— charity—is always an appropriate way for Jews to give thanks. It constitutes a mitzvah, fulfills a holy obligation, and is a privilege for the giver. It is a direct way a Jew can participate in his or her obligation to “help repair the world”.
Special circumstances
A mourner may attend a brit milah ceremony, even in the immediate aftermath of the death of a relative when other public activities are proscribed.
A child with Down Syndrome or any other physical or cognitive birth defect is to have a brit milah ceremony just as any other male newborn.
In the tragic case of a male stillborn or a male newborn that dies before his brit milah ceremony, arrangements will be made for his circumcision—without a ceremony—either at the funeral home or at the gravesite. (Please see the chapter concerning fetal/infant death).
Sephardic customs
After their expulsion from Spain and Portugal, Jews from that part of the world—called Sephardic Jews—usually migrated to cities in southern Europe, the Middle East, or Northern Africa. It is not surprising, therefore, that over the centuries their customs evolved differently from those of the Ashkenazi or northern European Jews. Below are listed some of these differing Sephardic customs related to the brit milah ceremony:
— Recitation from portions of the Zohar the night before a bris.
— The hanging of cabalistic charts on the walls and doors of the child’s room as protection against evil spirits the night before a bris.
— In communities descendent from Syrian Jews, a large tray filled with flowers and candies is passed around at a bris so that guests can place cash contributions on it. At the conclusion of the brit milah ceremony there is an auction for the tray and its contents. The winner of the auction then donates both the tray and the price he/she paid for it to charity
— In Persian/Iranian communities apples are often placed on a table at a bris and young couples are encouraged to take them. The apples supposedly encourage fertility and “guarantee” easy births.
— An old custom of Moroccan Jews is to place a dish of sand on the table where the mohel performs the circumcision, signifying the wish of the community that the child should be as fruitful as the number of grains of sand in the dish.
— Another Moroccan custom is for the attendees at a bris to smell fragrant spices or flowers following the blessing over wine, similar to the tradition at Havdalah services at the end of the Sabbath. Often rose petals are used for this purpose.
— Spanish Jews drape the chair of Elijah with a purple-and-gold braided cloth to give it the appearance of a throne. The child is often carried into the brit milah ceremony on a pillow decorated with lace scarves and embroidered shawls.