Conversion
A non-Jewish male who wishes to convert to Judaism must:
- Have a ritual circumcision (usually with the circumcision component under general anesthesia)
- Be immersed in a mikveh—ritual bath
- Accept the obligation to fulfill the commandments in the Torah
- Pledge to lead a Jewish life
- Take on or be assigned a Hebrew name
His bris cannot take place on the Sabbath or a Jewish holiday. If a candidate for conversion is already circumcised, he has to undergo the ceremony of hatafat dam brit as describe previously.
Adoption
If a boy born to a Jewish mother is adopted by Jewish parents and the child has had a brit milah ceremony, then nothing need be done in terms of affirming his Jewish identity. In the more common instance where a Jewish couple adopts a boy born to a non-Jewish mother, then the child has to go through the standard conversion process as noted above. If he is already circumcised, part of this process will be to undergo hatafat dam brit.
Brit Shalom (no circumcision) ceremonies
There are some parents that very much want their child to have a Jewish identity and undergo a Jewish birth ritual but for any of a variety of reasons feel strongly that they do not want their son circumcised. A new sort of ceremony is emerging, developed by such parents, to fulfill this need. Although definitely not equivalent to a regular brit milah in terms of Jewish law, such ceremonies can provide a meaningful bridge between rejecting the concept of circumcision yet attempting to fulfill some aspect of Jewish ritual.
Already-prepared examples of such services can be found on the web taking many portions from the regular brit milah liturgy; some of these prewritten services even have musical accompaniments. As with a traditional brit milah service, the parents will need to pick a Hebrew name for their son which is announced during the naming portion of the brit shalom ceremony. Some individuals have incorporated a pomegranate into the ceremony, the cutting of which symbolically replaces the removal of the foreskin. The pomegranate is used because the pomegranate supposedly has 613 seeds which correspond to the 613 mitzvot in the Torah.
Brises for nontraditional couples
The brit milah ceremony can be performed for a Jewish male child of a parent or parents of any configuration: single parents, interfaith couples (one non-Jewish parent), LGBT couples, divorced parents, grandparents, or other caretakers of a child.