The Eris Brigade

In a potentially competitive field, mohelim say its the mitzvah,
not the money, that motivates them.

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR

Special to The Jewish News

I

t took Cantor Earl Berris six
months after he moved here to
gain his bearings and scope out
the area's mohel scene. Now he's
ready to enter the fray.
Starting this month, the
Congregation B'nai Moshe cantor, who
has moonlighted as a mohel for the past
20 years, will once again pick up the
scalpel. In doing so, he will become one
of about a half-dozen part-time ritual
circumcisers who serve the Detroit
Jewish community.
To set up shop, he carefully consid-
ered his ad for the Detroit Jewish News,
preferring a soothing message for par-
ents rather than a typical "before" pic-
ture that other mohelim use of a calm
baby cradled lovingly in their arms.
Then he utilized the vast network at his
disposal, spreading the word among
family, friends and congregants. He
even selected a special telephone num-
ber (788-BABY), all in the hopes of
increasing the chances of securing a
portion of the number of brit milot per-
formed in metropolitan Detroit.
"At first, I had to devote my full
attention to the congregation, but now
I am ready," he said. "I can't wait."
Although Halachah (Jewish law)
does not regulate advertising of such
services, it does clearly call for the father
to circumcise a son on the eighth day
after birth as a sign of the continuing
covenant between Jews and God.

encourages the same emphasis to be
placed on naming ceremonies for girls.
"We very strongly encourage that
there be a ceremony for girls as well,"
Rabbi Leibling said. "We like to
encourage as much parity as possible."
Parity is also seen in the move-
ment's recognition of both patrilin
eal and matrilineal descent. And
because children born of non-Jewish
mothers are recognized as Jews from
birth, there is no need for immer-
sion in the mikvah prior to the cir
curricision ceremony.

-ziiiimimaga3uo

3/20
1998

70

"Before I make the incision, I hand
In Genesis 17:6-13, God promises
the
father the knife," said Rabbi
land, fertility and future kings in a pact
Avraham Cohen, the principal of
with Abraham. As a sign of the pact,
Yeshiva Beth
He commands
Yehudah, who has
that flesh of the
performed more
foreskin be cir-
,1 than 800 circumci-
cumcised on every
.E sions in his 18
future male on
years as a mohel. "I
the eighth day
ask him to hand it
after his birth:
back to me and
"Thus my
explain that with
covenant be
that gesture, he is
marked in your
appointing me the
flesh as an ever-
agent to act in his
lasting pact," says
behalf"
the passage.
Since Abraham
Squeamishness
was the first
aside, fathers dele-
Jewish father, it
gate the honor in
was taken to
part because the
mean that each
mohel has training
father born of the
and experience; at
pact would then
times, a mohel
be responsible for
does more circum-
the circumcision
cisions in one day
of his sons. But
than a father would do in a lifetime.
for the vast majority of Jewish fathers,
Cantor Samuel Greenbaum of
the task of circumcision is a bit more
Congregation Beth Shalom in
than they can bear. Early rab-
binic sources indicate that
Cantor Samuel Oak Park, for example, has
performed more than 8,000
when a parent cannot perform
Greenb aum, a
ritual circumcisions, including
what is commanded of him,
Conser vative
an agent can be appointed to
mohel p erforms that of his own son.
For as many reasons a
a circu mcision.
carry out the mitzvah.
father may come up with to
Therefore, as an appointee of
avoid the actual cutting, there are prob-
the parents, the mohel performs the
ably an equal number of reasons for a
surgical task, chants the blessings and
person to become a mohel.
announces the name of the child before
For Greenbaum, it was the early
the bevy of relatives assembled.

Both men and women can be
mohelim and do not have to be
from the Reconstructionist move-
ment, in part because the move-
ment does not specifically train
mohelim.
However, when it comes to .a
time line, the Reconstructionist
movement sticks with the tradition-
al eight days.

Reform:

Tammy Schachet-13riskin, director
of the Brit Milah Board at Hebrew

Union College in Los Angeles, said
there are a number of differences
between the Reform tradition of
brit milah and the more halachical-
ly-bound Jewish observance.
For one, mohels who are trained
through the Reform movement
must h.old a valid medical license as
a doctor or nurse-midwife and
already have the surgical knowledge
of the circumcision procedure. The
training program involves instruc-
tion on Jewish law and not cutting
technique, she said.

influence of a rabbi who sidelined as a
mohel in his boyhood hometown of
Jacksonville, Fla. Like Berris, Cantor
Howard Glantz of Adat Shalom
Synagogue followed a suggested course
of education after his seminary training
in order to help underserved popula-
tions.
"The theory at the time was that
we were all going to be going in dif-
ferent ways. We didn't know where we ,
were going to end up in life and a
great deal of the country is under-
served in this aspect. At least there
weren't enough to walk to all of the
different places on Shabbat," Glantz
said. "It is important, especially for
the Conservative Jewish community,
to have these choices."
And for some, it is a family tradition.
The first time Cohen witnessed a bris
was that of his younger brother, which
was done by his father. He then fol-
lowed his father to hundreds of brit
milot and eventually went to Israel
where he trained on up to 12 infants a
day under the tutelage of Rabbi Yosef
Dovid Weisberg.
"Of course, everyone emulates and
looks up to their father. Some want to
follow in their father's footsteps," he
said, adding that his sons often tag
along from one bris to the next, watch-
ing their father in action.
Orthodox and Conservative mohe-
lim typically apprentice under other
mohelim and are not required to hold
any kind of state certification to ply
their trade. The Reform tradition, on

"We don't do that training, so
they have to have that knowledge in
advance," she said, adding that
medical residents who take the
training do not receive certification
until they receive a medical license.
Second, since the movement rec-
ognizes both patrilineal and matri-
lineal descent, there is no require-
ment of rnikvah immersion of a
child born of a gentile mother.
Following this parity, both men an •
women can be mohelim,
Third, all moh.elim must belong

