# What Do Mohels Do With the Foreskins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992 "2004-09-03T18:11:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/21 "2004-09-04T03:04:40Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > If this enlargement really happened, then it WAS NOT the foreskin of Jesus who was without sin. Oh, and if a disembodied foreskin really did become enlarged, who else do you think it might have belonged to? ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/22 "2004-09-04T03:30:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Oh, and if a disembodied foreskin really did become enlarged, who else do you think it might have belonged to? JDT perhapse? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/23 "2004-09-04T03:41:57Z")
> [@MannyL](#): > > JDT perhapse? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/24 "2004-09-04T04:12:47Z")
> [@MannyL](#): > > JDT perhapse? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/25 "2004-09-04T05:01:40Z")
Found [this FAQ](http://www.imohel.com/faq.htm), which answers the OP as follows: > [@](#): > > Q: What is traditionally done with the excised foreskin? > > A: The foreskin is an object that has been part of a mitzvah, and similar to an unusable Torah scroll or tefillin, it requires burial. A garbage disposal is not dignified and considered a disgraceful place to throw away an object of God’s imperative. -DF ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/26 "2004-09-04T05:23:55Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > 😕 This board once had a poster with those initials. His idĂ©e fixe was about the abomination that is circumcision. He could work it into pretty much any thread on any topic. It was annoying, but somehow his antics were sometimes fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/27 "2004-09-04T12:23:49Z")
> [@Dancer\_Flight](#): > > Found [this FAQ](http://www.imohel.com/faq.htm), which answers the OP as follows: > > [quote > Q: What is traditionally done with the excised foreskin? > > A: The foreskin is an object that has been part of a mitzvah, and similar to an unusable Torah scroll or tefillin, it requires burial. A garbage disposal is not dignified and considered a disgraceful place to throw away an object of God’s imperative. -DF [/QUOTE] OK, so they’re supposed to bury it. In the back yard? In the Mohel’s back yard? In a consecrated burial place? Apropos of **Broomstick** ’s suggestion, if this thread isn’t on page 1 come Sunday morning, I’m going to bump it so one of our Jews can answer. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/28 "2004-09-04T13:40:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > It’s a sin to get an erection? If it’s in the presence of a virgin, logically yes, since it’s an indication of desire, and if you feel desire, you’ve already sinned in your heart, etc
 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/29 "2004-09-04T16:08:07Z")
He makes hisself a mighty fine stew, pilgrim. 😉 I think there was a thread on the Dope once where someone mentioned that his mother had his in a baby book. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/30 "2004-09-04T19:40:04Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > OK, so they’re supposed to bury it. In the back yard? In the Mohel’s back yard? In a consecrated burial place?. Do they say a Kaddish for it? ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/31 "2004-09-04T19:40:58Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > 😉 > > I think there was a thread on the Dope once where someone mentioned that his mother had his in a baby book. I guess it would fit neatly over the top corner of a page or two. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/32 "2004-09-04T22:34:34Z")
> [@Springears](#): > > At the expense of repeating myself if Jehovah God wished it to be worshiped etc. He would have made adequate authentication available for all to see! This is really cool. You actually know what God would have done had he had certain wishes. I don’t know why we even bother the Great Master when we have the word of God right here. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lynwood\_Slim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Lynwood\_Slim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynwood_Slim)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/33 "2004-09-05T06:16:22Z")
From what I know of Jewish tradition, the mohel buries the foreskin any where he/she wants, as long as it is in the earth. I have seen a tradition where the mohel gives the foreskin to the family, so they can bury it in their backyard, and then plant a sapling there. Theoretically, the branches from tree can be used for the posts of the chuppah, the wedding canopy years later. I have never hung around long enought to see if that actually happens. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/34 "2004-09-05T06:21:39Z")
> [@](#): > > A garbage disposal is not dignified Presumably this phrase means “disposal in the garbage,” rather than the typical sink-mounted grinder. Because visualizing a rabbi dumping a bowl of phallic calamari (or phallamari, if you will) into the kitchen drain to be rendered into gruel is just too weird even for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/35 "2004-09-05T07:26:12Z")
I misread the title and thought it was a questions about **models** and their foreskins. You really don’t want to know the answer I was composing. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/36 "2004-09-05T07:29:26Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Presumably this phrase means “disposal in the garbage,” rather than the typical sink-mounted grinder. Because visualizing a rabbi dumping a bowl of phallic calamari (or phallamari, if you will) into the kitchen drain to be rendered into gruel is just too weird even for this thread. That was one of the scenes cut from _Eraserhead_, wasn’t it? Do hospitals just put them in the biological waste disposal containers? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/37 "2004-09-05T12:06:19Z")
Ahem. For those families not as observant, the Mohel has it at his discretion to do what the state department of Health that licenses him demands. It is disposed of along with any blood-tainted instruments and gauze, in a Biohazard-marked redbag. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/38 "2004-09-05T12:07:02Z")
It’s possible some of them wind up in the biohazard waste containers, but there is at least one company I’m aware of that uses foreskins to make a medical product. Organogenesis uses them to make [Apligraf](http://www.drugs.com/PDR/Apligraf.html), a sort of artificial skin substitute/wound covering. There are probably other companies using foreskins for various things. The doctors/hospitals are _supposed_ to obtain a signed consent form from the parents telling them the foreskin will be used for these purposes prior to selling it. ---
**Author:** ![yarmarkus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yarmarkus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yarmarkus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/39 "2025-08-26T01:06:48Z")
Late to the conversation (about 20 years), but I saw an article about this: [What does the Mohel do with the foreskin?](https://www.rabbimohel.com/what-does-the-mohel-do-with-the-foreskin) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2025, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992/40 "2025-08-26T01:17:18Z")
Welcome, @yarmarkus . Before anyone starts with the zombie jokes, let me officially say as a moderator that we welcome posts to long-dormant threads, so long as they add substantive information to the conversation. Which you did, and to a far greater degree than most of the previous posters to this thread. Wow, our standards for Factual Questions were pretty lax, back then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-mohels-do-with-the-foreskins/262992.md?page=3)