As most of what I've ever wanted to say about Bris Milah has already been recorded in this blog, the challenge is ever present to say something new, to couch something a new way, or to come up with new material that has not yet been addressed. As it happens, there are many sefarim (Hebrew books) written on the subject, so if I would either like to get esoteric, or start discussing out of the ordinary circumstances (such as what happens if the bris is on a pushed off fast day and the baby's father dies before the circumcision), those options are always available.
At the minimum I'm trying to blog once a month, so before May is lost, here goes.
I've gotten two more inquiries from physicians - I mentioned a previous one from two months ago here. And once again a physician (or two, or more?) wants to become a mohel and is having a hard time finding a mohel to train him.
One needs to be consistently busy to train others, and as I'm finding out, babies tend to come in spurts and seasons. I have about 12 babies lined up for brisses at the end of June through early August - and that's just the people who call well in advance! (And some of them may turn out to be girls, which will obviously lower the numbers)
In the news: Europe is going crazy again, couching their anti-Semitism in the guise of liberalism. Save the babies! Save the animals! From those nasty Jews! (the title is mine, but that is the truth behind this latest assault)
I spoke to a father this week who had two very preemie twin boys. They will need a lot of time before they are ready for a bris. And as I write this I am waiting in an airport for my delayed flight to take me to a bris for another set of twins - though only the brother half will be having his bris.
Life goes on. Babies are born every day, and this blog continues to service people around the globe. Not sure why, but for the first time I know of, the hits from Israel outshine from even the USA - 3929 website visits from Israel in this week alone, compared to a meager 411 in the USA.
Germany, Brazil, UK and Netherlands are the next top visitors. I hope they're mostly Jews looking for information, rather than anti-Semites looking for fodder to fuel their anti-Semitism (see mention of Europe above).
That about does it! Looking forward to the summer and the many anticipated (and unknown to me) births which are coming. May the babies all be healthy, and may the boys have their brisses at the right time.
Showing posts with label twins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twins. Show all posts
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Twins - Double the Joy!
A while back, I blogged about having multiple brisses or twins or triplet brisses.
Makes you want to have twins. Doesn't it?
These guys are extra special, because as twins, they shared the same sac and placenta. You can't get any closer than that. Their parents named them David and Yonatan - like the two Biblical characters who cared so deeply for one another, whose love for one another is described by the Rabbis as "A love that is not dependent on anything."
Most brisses are, as you can imagine, single-serving affairs.
But I had the privilege to preside over a "twins" bris once again recently, and when I saw the babies with their mother after they had eaten post-bris, I couldn't resist taking this picture.
Makes you want to have twins. Doesn't it?
These guys are extra special, because as twins, they shared the same sac and placenta. You can't get any closer than that. Their parents named them David and Yonatan - like the two Biblical characters who cared so deeply for one another, whose love for one another is described by the Rabbis as "A love that is not dependent on anything."
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Important Lesson I've Learned on the Job
Over the years, I have been privileged to serve as mohel for parents at all stages of parenthood. First timers, Second timers, etc. up to tenth-timers. I've worked with parents of twins (a number of times) and triplets (twice).
Thankfully, most births are without complication, or with minimal complication.
But I once had the sad role of being the mohel for a premature twin who lived only one day. (There is a custom to circumcise baby boys who do not survive, so their body may bear the mark of the covenant. You may or may not agree with it, but for the parents who lose a baby so soon after birth, this can be very comforting.)
And I've been the mohel for babies who came against all odds, after their parents experienced numerous miscarriages, or many years of infertility - treated and untreated.
I was once called to do the bris on a baby whose parents - both of them - are cancer survivors. I did not know this about them until after the bris. The husband/father gave the most emotionally packed speech I have ever heard at a bris, and I kid you not when I say there was not a dry eye in the room. Their friends and family all know their story, and they all celebrated the birth and bris of that baby in a way I hadn't seen and haven't seen since.
So here is the lesson:
You never know what people go through before having or in order to have a baby. One father put it to me this way: "People keep saying to us, 'why are you waiting? Don't you know it's better to have the kids closer in age?' We have one daughter, and we've had nine miscarriages. We'll take 'em when we can get 'em."
Obviously he won't say that to people. But it just goes to show that people can be really dumb in the things they say.
Those who are blessed to have babies, whether without difficulty, or with difficulty and with help, are truly blessed.
And those who seem to "wait" a long time before having their first, or their second, etc. - they are blessed in a different way (perhaps moreso) when they have their babies.
And those who don't have any children - you never know why it is so.
Wish those who become pregnant the best of wishes. And if they don't become pregnant, do what you can to help only when they reach out to you. Otherwise, don't say anything.
You have no idea what they're going through.
Thankfully, most births are without complication, or with minimal complication.
But I once had the sad role of being the mohel for a premature twin who lived only one day. (There is a custom to circumcise baby boys who do not survive, so their body may bear the mark of the covenant. You may or may not agree with it, but for the parents who lose a baby so soon after birth, this can be very comforting.)
And I've been the mohel for babies who came against all odds, after their parents experienced numerous miscarriages, or many years of infertility - treated and untreated.
I was once called to do the bris on a baby whose parents - both of them - are cancer survivors. I did not know this about them until after the bris. The husband/father gave the most emotionally packed speech I have ever heard at a bris, and I kid you not when I say there was not a dry eye in the room. Their friends and family all know their story, and they all celebrated the birth and bris of that baby in a way I hadn't seen and haven't seen since.
So here is the lesson:
You never know what people go through before having or in order to have a baby. One father put it to me this way: "People keep saying to us, 'why are you waiting? Don't you know it's better to have the kids closer in age?' We have one daughter, and we've had nine miscarriages. We'll take 'em when we can get 'em."
Obviously he won't say that to people. But it just goes to show that people can be really dumb in the things they say.
Those who are blessed to have babies, whether without difficulty, or with difficulty and with help, are truly blessed.
And those who seem to "wait" a long time before having their first, or their second, etc. - they are blessed in a different way (perhaps moreso) when they have their babies.
And those who don't have any children - you never know why it is so.
Wish those who become pregnant the best of wishes. And if they don't become pregnant, do what you can to help only when they reach out to you. Otherwise, don't say anything.
You have no idea what they're going through.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Multiple Babies
It is a tremendous privilege to be asked to be the mohel for any and every bris.
It is an even bigger privilege when there is more than one baby - such as twins or triplets.
Believe it or not, the last five sets of twins I've dealt with have been boy and girl twins; obviously they were only single brisses.
But I've had my share of twin boy brisses, and, even less common, two sets of triplet boy brisses.
"How do you do it?" people ask. Simple! Have multiple sets of instruments! Now the event is no longer a set of triplets, but it is three brisses in succession. No less an incredible feat, but less stressful for the mohel who has three babies to concern himself with in either case.
The amazing thing is that like every bris and like every baby, the brisses never come out "exactly" the same. For that I guess even the mothers may be grateful because they have another method of identifying the difference in their newborns.
Quadruplets or quintuplets will be the highlight of my career, but I'm not waiting up nights for it to happen.
Though, come to think of it, the last day I spent with my mohel teacher in Israel (Rabbi Mordechai Sasson, the government supervisor of mohels in Israel), he had nine brisses. One of that day's brisses was a baby who was a quadruplet. They hired four mohels that day to give each a chance, rather than give them all to one mohel who really would have had a story to tell for the rest of his life.
While I attended one, I never presided over it. Yet.
All in good time.
Update: Twins bris early 2012 And Late 2012
It is an even bigger privilege when there is more than one baby - such as twins or triplets.
Believe it or not, the last five sets of twins I've dealt with have been boy and girl twins; obviously they were only single brisses.
But I've had my share of twin boy brisses, and, even less common, two sets of triplet boy brisses.
"How do you do it?" people ask. Simple! Have multiple sets of instruments! Now the event is no longer a set of triplets, but it is three brisses in succession. No less an incredible feat, but less stressful for the mohel who has three babies to concern himself with in either case.
The amazing thing is that like every bris and like every baby, the brisses never come out "exactly" the same. For that I guess even the mothers may be grateful because they have another method of identifying the difference in their newborns.
Quadruplets or quintuplets will be the highlight of my career, but I'm not waiting up nights for it to happen.
Though, come to think of it, the last day I spent with my mohel teacher in Israel (Rabbi Mordechai Sasson, the government supervisor of mohels in Israel), he had nine brisses. One of that day's brisses was a baby who was a quadruplet. They hired four mohels that day to give each a chance, rather than give them all to one mohel who really would have had a story to tell for the rest of his life.
While I attended one, I never presided over it. Yet.
All in good time.
Update: Twins bris early 2012 And Late 2012
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