Have Knife - Will Travel

Welcome to travelingmohel.com! If you are expecting a boy, or if your son has just been born, and you live in an area without a local mohel (or the local mohel is unavailable, or you are exploring other options), travelingmohel.com is the address for you.

I come highly recommended by happy parents, rabbis and physicians, and have developed the traveling for a bris down to a science so that you have the best experience possible from a traveling mohel, your baby is given the attention he needs and deserves, and we remain in constant contact until your baby is completely healed from his bris (circumcision).

I currently live in South Florida, making me an ideal candidate to fly anywhere in the Caribbean or the United States. I am open to flying just about anywhere in the world!

For more information about me and my thoughts on bris milah/ brit milah/ berit milah, please see my regular blog at http://www.mohelinsouthflorida.com/

Click here to read the inaugural thoughts of this website/blog. This posting is the important first step in understanding what I offer and how my mohel services will best fit your needs.

Wednesday

Chapel Hill, NC Bris - EREV PESACH

Almost a timing nightmare, I received a call to do a bris in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, one week before Pesach (Passover). Going away for a holiday (I observe both days - don't travel or use the telephone) would be exceedingly difficult, for two reasons - spending a holiday in an unfamiliar environment is less than ideal, and being away from my family is not something I prefer to consider doing.

Luckily the baby was born Monday - making his bris on Monday - Erev Pesach.

I booked a flight to come Sunday evening, I was put up in a hotel, and the bris was early in the morning - 8:30am. Last dose of chometz (o yes, there were bagels) for all the participants in advance of the holiday.

The ceremony was very nice. Between the grandparents and great-grandma, and uncles and aunts, family was well represented. It was a uniquely educational experience for those in attendance on account of all the connections between Pesach and Bris Milah, which I don't usually get the opportunity to speak about because it's not usually as relevant.

Three connections:
1. We set a cup for Elijah at the Seder, and a chair for Elijah at the bris
2. The Passover miracle is partly attributed to blood - the blood placed on the doorposts
    The Covenant of Circumcision was forged over blood - in Hebrew דם מילה
We actually allude to both when we name the baby, as we quote the verse ואמר לך בדמיל חיי - And I said to you through your bloods you will live (the plural refers to the Blood of Pesach and the Blood of Circumcision) (Ezekiel 16:6)
3. In the days when there was a Paschal Lamb Sacrifice, a male who was uncircumcised could not partake in the eating of the lamb.

My return flight was 1pm, so I removed the baby's bandage at 11am, did not need to reapply a dressing  (and everything looked great!) and I made my way to the airport for the return flight home - which left relatively ontime and arrived a little early! Home in time for the holiday, with a couple of hours to spare.

A special family, a special bris, and a special introduction to the holiday of Pesach.

Mazal tov!

Post bris nap in his Bubby's arms