Minhagei Worms, Germany (1 of 2)

Over the weekend I picked up a book which discusses the customs of the Jewish community of "Vermaiza" - Worms, Germany. While much of the customs of the Jews of Worms are for the Ages, the book had some interesting insights about some aspects of Bris Milah, and the customs associated with the ancient ritual.

1. The reason we don't say Tachanun - since Eliyahu the Prophet will be in attendance at the bris, all rejoice over his arrival and Tachanun is cancelled.

2. The reason why we still say Lamnatzeach is because of the pain of the child. Targum Yonatan defines the phrase "יענך ה' ביום צרה" (That God should answer you on a day of pain) as "God should accept your cries on the day of circumcision." Obviously, this is an appropriate thing to say on the day of a bris. (Though it too is cancelled if there is a groom in the synagogue).

3. We say "ברוך הבא" at a bris, either because we are welcoming the 8 day old (הבא has the gematria (numerical value) of 8 in 5+2+1). Or because it is a greeting to Eliyahu the Prophet (as someone once pointed out to me, הבא is an acronym for - הנה בא אליהו.)

4. The mitzvah of Bris Milah has two components - Milah (removal of foreskin) and Priah (removal of mucosal membrane) (note - no mention of metzitzah as being essential...), based on the verse in Yehoshua (5:2) "Return and circumcise the children of Israel a second time." The word שנית (a second time) has the same numerical value (760) as פריעת, which is a reference to the second component of the circumcision. When the child is circumcised, people should be standing, based on the verse "ויעמוד כל העם בברית" (Melachim II 23:3) - that the people stood for the covenant.

We'll have more in the next installment from this wonderful book.

Nissan - When one Perk is Irrelevant

Every day at shacharis someone will ask me "Are you working today?" meaning, "Do you have a bris?"

The reason they are asking is because when a mohel is present in shul on a day when he is performing a bris, since it is considered to be a Yom Tov/holiday for him, the "tachanun" prayer is omitted in celebration of the special occasion. After all, who needs to beseech God with supplications when such good news is taking place? [That's not exactly the thought process, but it's a start.]

Anyway, the custom is for the entire Jewish community to omit Tachanun during all of the Hebrew month of Nissan on account of the fact that 20 days of the month (Biblically speaking) have a special event attached to them. The rabbis taught, once more than half the month is free from tachanun, we'll just apply the celebrations to the entire month..

During Nissan, bris or no bris, I am reminded "we don't need you."

I got it.