It’s also unfair that the other babies will now have genital herpes.
That’s not funny.
Well then as a Jew, I’ll say it. No fucking way would a Mohel suck the blood off my hypothetical son’s penis. And I’ve never seen it done in any of the circumcisions I’ve been witness to.
Unless the baby’s penis is a foot long.
How often, when you witness a * brit milah*, has it been in the context of an Orthodox family, with an Orthodox mohel?
The oral suction is called metzitzah b’peh, and has been the subject of commentary and responsa for some time. In the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 265:10, Rema’s commentary is, “We spit the metzitzah blood into dirt.” How is the blood spit, if not drawn into the mouth?
You can, as many modern mohels do, argue that the mitzvah is satisfied by a gauze, or by a glass tube. Or you can argue, as Maimonides and Rav Papa did, that the lack of the metzitzah b’peh does not invalidate the milah.
But you can’t say, “I’m a Jew, and I’ve never seen it,” as an argument that it’s not a practice with a long history and commentary in Jewish law. If you’re a Jew and you’re unfamiliar with it, I’d say you’re not a frum Jew.
At least two brises that I’ve gone to have been from families who are Conservative-Orthodox. We don’t have a huge population of ultra-orthodox in town, where this apparently is still practiced.
My argument that I’ve never seen it and that I think the practice is weird and disgusting shouldn’t be taken for anything larger than what it is. I’ve never seen it. I think it’s weird and disgusting.
I can ask around to some friends and see what about their experiences/opinions.
I’d be curious.
And… far be it from me, the Roman Catholic, to advise the Jew on matters of Jewish ritual, but inasmuch as bris is a Hebrew word, don’t you think that “brises” kind of grates the ear?
May I humbly suggest britot or britot milah as the appropriate plural?
Bless you.
To answer your first part, I’ve gotten no responses in the affirmative. Though, to be fair, I’ve gotten very few responses overall. When you ask about sucking an infant’s penis people tend to shy away from the conversation.
To the second, Bris isn’t a Hebrew word, it’s a Yiddish word. You are correct that britot is the plural of brit, though. I have heard that brisim is one possible appropriate plural, but I’ve always heard it as brises (as if you get many opportunities in your life to discuss the subject of multiple circumcisions). Still another question I can ask around about.
Yes, bris is Yiddish. It’s also Hebrew. How do you pronounce בְּרִית מִילָה ?
Did I learn my Hebrew letters incorrectly?
The transliteration of בְּרִית מִילָה is brit milah. It’s pronounced breet meelah. The single dot under a letter is the long e vowel sound.
There are some groups of Jews, my late grandfather being among them, who would pronounce the letter ת with an “s” sound. Though it’s more commonly pronounced with a “t” sound. To that end, I imagine that there are some out there (mainly Ashkenazi) who say בְּרִית as “brees”. But the Yiddish version is a short “i” sound. rhymes with “this”
Personally, and my experience in usage from everyone else I know, brit milah is the official term for the ceremony but no one calls it that.
“Hey, wanna go to movies on Sunday?”
“Can’t. My nephew’s gotta bris I have to go to.”
LOL, I’m so far in the rabbit hole on this one I’m not even sure if we’re arguing about anything anymore.