In this week’s parsha Avraham Avinu is given the mitzvah of bris milah, and this is the first time we find the mitzvah of bris milah in the Torah, therefore, this week I would like to discuss a topic related to this mitzvah. We will discuss a number of cases involving switching mohalim and we will see when one is allowed to switch, and when doing so is problematic. We will discuss at least four cases:
1) The parents of a newborn baby decided which mohel they intended to employ, but did not know his telephone number. At the hospital, they asked someone for his phone number, and called to make arrangements. However, when the mohel came to check the baby before the bris, they realized that this was not the mohel they had intended to use. Could they now use a different mohel?
2) Reuven’s grandfather has been a mohel for many years and is already in his 90’s. Reuven just had a newborn son, and he automatically assumed that being that his grandfather is so old, he probably doesn’t serve as a mohel anymore, so he asked a young fresh mohel to perform the bris. To his dismay, a close family member of his also just had a newborn baby boy and he goes to the bris and sees that his grandfather still performs brisim for family members. Reuven now wants to know if he can switch mohalim and use his grandfather. He would prefer to use a young mohal with steadier hands, but he is scared that if he doesn’t use his grandfather, he will be advertising to the family that his grandfather no longer is able to serve as mohel and it will put an end to his career as a mohel, what should he do?
3) A newborn baby had a borderline high bilirubin count, high enough that some mohalim would postpone the bris, whereas others would consider it safe. The particular mohel that was asked to perform the bris wanted to postpone the bris. The parents, however, wanted to perform the bris on the eighth day. May the parents now ask a different mohel who is happy to perform the bris on the eighth day to do so?
4) A particular family has always used Reb Moshe as their mohel for their previous sons, and they would like to use him again for their newborn son. However, Reb Moshe is already booked by other families and will not be available until later in the day than the family would like to make his bris. Should they wait for Reb Moshe, or is it ok to use a different mohel who is available earlier on in the day?
Introduction
The critical issue in all these questions is whether someone who asked one mohel to perform his son’s bris may then ask a different mohel to do so. Of course, the immediate question is why should one not be able to do so? Isn’t one permitted to switch one’s lawyer, doctor, or accountant, if one chooses?
To introduce our discussion, we will mention an event that transpired almost eight hundred years ago. A newborn baby was ill, and it was obvious that the bris would be delayed for several weeks. The father promised the local mohel, Rabbi Levi, that he would be honored with performing the bris. Rabbi Levi, who was responsible for certain regional communal matters, left on a trip to attend to these responsibilities, assuming that he would return by the time the baby would be ready for the bris. Boruch Hashem, the baby recuperated faster than expected, and now the father wanted to perform the bris, but had no way of reaching Rabbi Levi. (Remember that cellular phone technology was not that advanced in the thirteenth century.) In order to guarantee that his son’s bris would take place as soon as possible, the father brought a mohel from a different town, promising the second mohel that he would perform the bris whether the first mohel returned on time or not. On the day that the baby was healthy enough for the bris, both mohalim showed up in town, and the question was: Which mohel should be awarded with the mitzvah, the mohel who traveled specially for the bris, or the mohel who had earlier been promised the mitzvah?
Which Mohel Should Be Used?
This question was taken to the Maharam of Rottenberg for a decision. The Maharam quotes Rabbeinu Tam who ruled that once someone asked a mohel to perform a bris, he may not switch and offer the mitzvah to another mohel. Before explaining the basis for Rabbeinu Tam’s ruling, we need to introduce two halachic factors:
Don’t Charge for a Mitzvah
According to halachah, one may not charge for performing a mitzvah (Bechoros 29a; Nedarim 37a). (Although, one may charge for the loss of time from one’s livelihood that resulted.) Therefore, since a mohel may not charge to perform milah, he is performing it for the sake of the mitzvah. (The prevalent custom is to provide the mohel with a gift for his services. A particular mohel once told me: מל – if one does a bris, ולא פרע – and he doesn’t get paid with a respectable gift, כאילו לא מל – it’s considered as if the bris never happened.)
Keep your Word
The Torah says:מאזני צדק אבני צדק איפת צדק והין צדק - “You must have honest weights, honest weighing stones, an honest eifah [a unit of dry measure] and an honest hin [a unit of liquid measure]”(Vayikra 19:36). The word used by the Torah, hin, however, is similar to the word hein, which means yes. The Gemara understands this to allude to: Your “yes” should always be honest, meaning that one should be true to one’s word, even when no contract was created (Bava Metzia 49a). This is an extension of the idea conveyed by the Navi:שארית ישראל לא יעשו עולה ולא ידברו כזב ולא ימצא בפיהם לשון תרמית - “The remnant of Yisroel does not perform corruptive deeds and does not speak falsehood, nor will you find in their mouths a deceptive tongue” (Tzefaniah 3:13). This concept is often shortened in halachic reference to she’eiris Yisroel lo ya’asu avlah ̧ and refers to the ethical responsibility to be true to one’s word.
The Gemara’s conclusion is that someone who offered a second person a small gift is required to be true to his word. Nevertheless, should the giver renege, the proposed recipient has no claim. A Jew is obligated to keep his word, but this mitzvah does not create a liability against him.
Major Gift
The halachah is different if someone promised to provide a major gift. When one offered a major gift, the potential recipient does not necessarily expect that he will receive it; it is therefore not considered a violation of halachah to reconsider what one wants to do, should circumstances change.
Changing the Mohel
Putting both ideas together, Rabbeinu Tam concludes that once one offers a particular mohel the opportunity to perform the bris, one cannot change to a different mohel. It would seem that choosing one mohel over another qualifies as a “small gift,” that one is required to honor. Therefore, although one may not change mohalim, should he do so, the first mohel has no claim against either the second mohel or the father, even though the father did the wrong thing by changing.
Which Mohel?
The Maharam concludes that since the first mohel has now returned, the father is required to ask him to perform the bris, since the second mohel was authorized to perform the bris only should the first mohel be unavailable (Teshuvos Maharam quoted by Beis Yosef, Yoreh Deah 264). The Gaon explains that since one is not supposed to change mohalim, the second mohel is only being asked if the first mohel would not be available.
Mistaken Identity
Now we can address the first one of our four cases, where the parents called a perfectly competent mohel, but was not the one they had intended to use. This particular case I saw in a Teshuvah written by R’ Yirmiyohu Kaganoff and the story behind this particular shailah is quite humorous. He attended the bris of someone he knew and asked them how they knew the particular mohal that they had chosen to use. The story was as follows:
The new parents had decided to use the international renowned “Yossele the mohel” of Yerusholayim (now, zt”l, of blessed memory), but, like most people, did not know Yossele’s family name (Weisberg). The mother of the newborn child asked one of the observant nurses at the hospital if she knew the phone number of “Yossele, the mohel,” and, knowing how busy Yossele can be, she immediately called and reserved Yossele. When the mohel arrived to check the baby before the bris, the father realized that this was not the mohel he had expected. Before the mohel left, the father asked if he had a business card, and his perusal confirmed his suspicion. Indeed, they had called a mohel named Yosef, but he was not the famous “Yossele, the mohel.”
Now, a bit flustered that he had arranged for an unknown mohel to perform the bris milah on his son, he made inquiries and determined that, indeed, Yosef the mohel appeared to be qualified. Still, the father was faced with a halachic question. Could he change mohalim, since he had never intended to ask this Yosef to be his son’s mohel? He called his rav to ask whether he would be permitted to change the mohel. The rav ruled that although he could change the mohel, since Yosef the mohel was indeed a qualified mohel, he should not change mohalim, as this might offend the mistaken mohel.
R’ Kaganoff adds: By the way, the original Yossele the mohel wrote a four-volume encyclopedia on bris milah, called Otzar HaBris, in which he quotes that one may switch to a different mohel if the second mohel is more expert or a bigger tzadik (Volume 3, page 188, quoting Migdal Oz). So, according to Yossele the mohel, the new parents could have used Yossele the mohel instead of Yosef the mohel whom their rav told them to use. Obviously, their rav disagreed, and they did the proper thing by following his directions.
The Case of a Father Who Surprisingly Shows Up at His Own Son’s Bris
The Ya’avetz discusses the following case: The father of the newborn is himself a mohel, but he thought that he would not be able to be at his own son’s bris, and therefore arranged for a different mohel to perform the mitzvah. In the end, the father was able to attend. Is it a violation for him to perform the bris himself? The Ya’avetz rules that performing the bris himself is a major gift, and that he may perform the mitzvah himself (quoted in Sefer HaBris of Rav Moshe Bunim Pirutinsky, page 4). The idea is that someone who cannot perform the mitzvah himself will anyway need to ask a mohel to perform it for him, so which mohel he chooses is a “minor” gift. However, when he is able to perform the mitzvah himself, having someone else perform it instead is the loss of a major gift for which halachah permits him to renege.
The Case of the Grandfather Who Surprisingly Shows Up at His Grandson’s Bris
There was once a case of an avreich who was learning in kollel in Eretz Yisroel in an area where it is not easy to procure a mohel for a Shabbos bris. His father, who lives in America, is a mohel with a very busy practice. When this avreich’s son was born on Shabbos, his father told him that he would be unable to arrive for the bris because of other commitments, so he arranged for a local mohel to be available. Subsequently, the avreich’s father made arrangements to come for the bris. Is the avriech permitted to switch mohalim and have his father perform the bris?
The rav who ruled on this shailah held that it is considered a fulfillment of kibbud av for the baby’s father to have his own father perform the bris, and therefore, switching mohalim is permitted.
The Grandson Who Didn’t Want to End His Grandfather’s Career as Being a Mohel
We are now equipped to answer case number two, of the grandson who thought that his grandfather no longer practices as mohel and arranged someone else, and now he realizes that he does and wants to cancel the mohel he booked. The grandson fears that if he doesn’t, people will assume that if the grandfather doesn’t perform the bris of his own grandson, it must be he longer practices as a mohel, and the grandson will have put an end to his grandfather’s career as mohel.
In this particular case, I feel there is room to be lenient to switch, as the only reason a different mohal was selected was based on a mistaken assumption. Additionally, in this particular case, the young mohel will not be offended as surely he will understand why the grandson now wants to switch. Additionally, we may add, there is an obligation for one to respect his grandfather (see Rema, Yoreh Deah 240:24) and this alone may be enough of a reason to allow switching and using the grandfather.
Just to be sure that switching in the above case is indeed ok I asked R’ Kaganoff what he thinks, and he agreed.
Practically, what happened in this case was, the grandfather was given sandekous and the newborn child was named after the great grandfather (the grandfather’s father) and he was perfectly happy for a younger and more steady mohel to perform the bris, however, one has to be very careful not to upset other people and certainly not to put people out of business.
Disputed Bilirubin
Now let’s address case number three of the bilirubin shailah. The Gemara rules that if a baby is somewhat jaundiced, a common and not serious condition among newborns, one should delay performing the bris until the baby is well (Shabbos 134a). A dispute among contemporary poskim is: At what point does one consider the child to be mildly jaundiced. The diagnosis involved is based on certain physical symptoms and the measure of bilirubin in the blood. (Bilirubin is the pigment [or chemical] that causes jaundice. A higher bilirubin score results in a greater degree of jaundice.) Chassidisha rabbonim and mohalim tend to require a lower bilirubin score until they feel the child is ready for the bris, whereas Litvisha rabbonim and mohalim often feel that the threshold for safety to allow the performance of the bris is higher, and that babies whose bilirubin is in the middle range should not be deprived of having a bris in the correct time.
In our case, the family followed Litvisha practices, but had asked a well-respected chassidisha mohel to perform the bris. A day before he was expecting the bris, the mohel examined the baby and felt that the bris should be delayed until all symptoms of jaundice disappeared. The father then mentioned this to his posek, who was not convinced that the bris should be delayed, and instructed him to bring the baby to a different mohel, a well-respected Litvisha mohel, to check whether the bris could be performed on the eighth day. The second mohel saw no problem with performing the bris on the eighth day, but to be on the safe side, had them take the baby for a bilirubin test. The second mohel felt that the results of the bilirubin test also did not warrant delaying the bris.
This placed the father of the newborn baby in an uncomfortable position, since his original, chosen mohel still felt that the bris should be postponed. Should he use a different mohel so that he can make the bris on the eighth day? Would this be in violation of she’eiris Yisrael lo yaaseh avlah, by going back on his word to honor the original chassidisha mohel with the zechus of performing the bris?
The posek involved in this shailah held that changing mohalim in order to perform the bris on the eighth day is a “major gift” for which one does not violate she’eiris Yisrael lo yaaseh avlah.
Similarly, in case four, where the mohel who was used for the older sons will not be available until later in the day than one wants to perform the bris, many poskim rule that this is adequate reason to switch mohalim. Since one should perform a bris milah as early in the day as possible, because of the idea of zerizin makdimim lemitzvos, one should perform a mitzvah with alacrity, performing it with zerizus is a valid reason to switch mohalim.
Conclusion
Sometimes when a person is involved in performing a mitzvah, he forgets that other considerations, such as keeping one’s promise or offending someone, may be more important. In this particular mitzvah, we see the interplay of both factors, and how the poskim of the generations dealt with these issues.
(This week’s write-up is largely taken from a write-up written by R’ Yirmiyohu Kaganoff)
