Dear Rabbi Lawrence,

My cousin is traditional but not frum, and when she had her first son she and her husband were eager to give him a proper bris. She had her second son during the beginning of COVID back in April of 2020 and was very scared of involving anyone outside of her family. She decided to have her son circumcised in the hospital. They brought a siddur and said brachot over the circumcision. What does this mean for the kashrut of the bris? What can be done if it is not kosher?

Dear Michelle,

Thank you for reaching out to me. That is an incredibly relevant question and, sadly, not the first time I heard such a story.

Those first months of the pandemic were filled with tremendous doubt and fear; no one knew if or when normalcy would be restored and a lot of decisions were made b’shas hadchak, under duress. In June of 2020 I was interviewed by the Religious News Service, which was doing a story about how COVID interfered with the performance of religious circumcisions; many mohalim reported cases similar to the one you described with your cousin.

My first response to a case like this is compassion and empathy; bris milah is often experienced by scared parents as a metaphorical mesiras nefesh, but when coupled with actual perceived danger, it sounds like the prospect of doing a proper bris was too much for her to bear. While you or I may have made a different choice, the amount of uncertainty surrounding the circumstances at the time makes it clear that this was not an easy decision for them to make. With that compassion and empathy at the forefront, we address the halachic reality.

In the 206th siman of the Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah, Rabbi Yosef Karo, the Mechabar, states that all Jews (including women, minors, and those not circumcised for medical concerns) are valid to perform a bris, while a non-Jew is not. The Remah, Rabbi Moshe Isserles, amends the opinion of the Mechaber and qualifies that a Jew who is a mumar, an apostate or heretic, may not perform a bris. (In our days, because of the force of assimilation, the majority of Achronim have greatly limited who would fall into the category of mumar.)

So let’s assume for our purposes that: 1) bedieved we are less strict on the requirements for observance and that any normal Jew would suffice, and 2) it was performed with an instrument determined to be kosher by halacha. In such a case, I would still need more information to determine if even the context of the circumcision itself could render a kosher bris.

The mitzvah of milah only takes effect after the eighth day; if your baby cousin was circumcised any time before that, even by a frum Jewish doctor, it would unfortunately not be kosher. Alternatively, if he was circumcised after the eighth day by a non-Jewish doctor, it would also not be kosher. Since most babies are released from the hospital within 48 hours, much of the discussion of who and when is moot. If he was already circumcised and the mitzvah of bris milah was not fulfilled, what can be done?

First, a mohel must examine him and assess if the proper amount of skin was removed. If this is determined to be the case, neither the baby nor his father would be penalized through kareis, the divine punishment afforded to Jews who have the halachic requirement to be circumcised but neglect to do so. At the same time, he has not yet officially entered the bris, the covenant of Avraham Avinu. While they have missed the opportunity to truly fulfill the time-bound mitzvah of milah, normative halacha states that there is nonetheless a remedy to mark the covenant on his body. The mohel who checks him should perform a simple procedure called a “hatafas dam bris,” in which a tiny pinprick of blood is drawn from the site of circumcision. Your baby cousin receiving a hatafas dam bris is more than just a halachic technicality; it is a spiritual opportunity to retroactively initiate him into the covenant.

Of course, the prospect of any additional procedure, however non-invasive or minimal, could be daunting. With that in mind, if you choose to share this information with your cousin, please let me know if you need help brainstorming how to broach the subject. As always, I am at your service!

Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence is a doubly certified, highly rated mohel serving the NY, NJ and CT region and beyond. If you or someone you know is expecting or want to learn more about his practice, visit www.FamilyMohel.com. He can also be reached at [email protected] or at (212) 518-7334. Questions for the column can be submitted to [email protected].