Editing Mohel (section)

==Functions==
Biblically, the infant's father ({{Transliteration|he|avi haben}}) is commanded to perform the circumcision himself.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} However, as most fathers are not comfortable or do not have the training, they designate a {{Transliteration|he|mohel}} or {{Transliteration|he|mohelet}}. {{Transliteration|he|Mohalim}} are specially trained in circumcision and the rituals surrounding the procedure. Many {{Transliteration|he|mohalim}} are doctors or [[rabbi]]s (some are both) or [[hazzan|cantors]], and today are required to receive appropriate training, both  religious and medical.

Traditionally, {{Transliteration|he|mohalim}} use a scalpel to circumcise the newborn. Today, doctors and some non-Orthodox {{Transliteration|he|mohalim}} use a perforating clamp before they cut the skin. The clamp makes it easier to be precise and shortens recovery time. Orthodox {{Transliteration|he|mohalim}} have rejected perforating clamps, arguing that by crushing and killing the skin it causes a great amount of unnecessary pain to the newborn, cutting off the blood flow completely, which according to [[Halakha|Jewish law]] is dangerous to the child and strictly forbidden, and also renders the {{Transliteration|he|orlah}} (foreskin) as cut prior to the proper ritual cut.<ref>{{cite journal| author=Gesundheit| url= http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/114/2/e259.full.pdf+html/ |title= Neonatal genital herpes simplex virus type 1 infection... |journal= Pediatrics| date= August 2004 |volume= 114|number= 2| pages= e259-63 |access-date=2 February 2015|display-authors=etal | doi=10.1542/peds.114.2.e259 | pmid=15286266|doi-access= free|url-access= subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| author=Gesundheit| title=Infectious complications with herpes virus after ritual Jewish circumcision: a historical and cultural analysis  |journal=Harefuah|date= February 2005 |volume= 144| number=2 |pages=126–32, 149, 148 |pmid=16128020|language=he|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url= http://jme.bmj.com/content/39/7/459.full.pdf+html |title= Circumcision: What should be done?|first= Hanoch |last= Ben-Yami |journal= J Med Ethics |year= 2013| volume=39 |issue= 7|pages= 459–462| access-date= 2 February 2015 |doi=10.1136/medethics-2012-101274|pmid= 23760731|s2cid= 8878760|url-access= subscription}}</ref>

[[File:Mohelbuch.jpg|thumb|[[Mohel book|{{Transliteration|he|Mohel}} book]] from Hegenheim (F), dated between 1805 and 1849. Today in the [[Jewish Museum of Switzerland|Jewish Museum of Switzerland's]] collection.]]
Under Jewish law, {{Transliteration|he|mohalim}} must [[Brit milah#Metzitzah|draw blood from the circumcision wound]]. Most {{Transliteration|he|mohalim}} do it by hand with a suction device,<ref>{{cite web| last= Hartog| first= Kelly| url= http://www.jewishjournal.com/community_briefs/article/death_spotlights_old_circumcision_rite_20050218 |title= Death spotlights old circumcision rite| website= JewishJournal.com| date= 17 February 2005 |access-date= 2 February 2015}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/rabbi-probed-circumcised-infants-herpes-flna1c9448639 Rabbi probed for circumcised infants' herpes], nbcnews.com, 2 February 2005. Retrieved 2 February 2015.</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last1=Distel |first1=R|last2= Hofer| first2= V| last3= Bogger-Goren |first3= S| last4= Shalit |first4= I| last5= Garty |first5= BZ| title= Primary genital herpes simplex infection associated with Jewish ritual circumcision| journal= Isr Med Assoc J |date= 2003| volume= 5|issue=12|pages= 893–94| pmid= 14689764}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1= Yossepowitch |first1=O| last2= Gottesman |first2=T| last3= Schwartz |first3= O| last4= Stein |first4= M| last5= Serour |first5= F| last6= Dan |first6= M| title= Penile herpes simplex virus type 1 infection presenting two and a half years after Jewish ritual circumcision of an infant| journal= Sex Transm Dis |date= June 2013 |volume= 40| number=6|pages= 516–17 |pmid=23680909 | doi=10.1097/olq.0b013e31828bbc04|s2cid=9800836|doi-access= free}}</ref> but some follow the [[Brit milah#Metzitzah B'Peh (oral suction)|traditional practice of doing it by mouth]]. The [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] issued a warning in 2012 about the health implications of the latter practice, citing eleven cases of neonatal [[herpes simplex virus]] (HSV) and two recorded fatalities.<ref>{{cite journal| url= https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6122a2.htm |title= CDC: Neonatal HSV Infection from Circumcision-Related Orogenital Suction| last1= Baum | first1=SG| journal= Morb Mortal Wkly Rep |date=8 June 2012 |volume= 61| pages= 405–409 |access-date= 2 February 2015}}</ref> A 2013 review of cases of neonatal HSV infections in Israel identified ritual circumcision as the source of HSV-1 transmission in 31.8% of the cases.<ref>{{cite journal| author= Amir Koren|url= http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/files/herpes-simplex-neonates-israel-7-cases-8-years-koren_nhsv_infections_israel_pid_2013.pdf |title= Neonatal Herpes Simplex virus infections in Israel| journal= Pediatr Infect Dis J |date= 2013 |volume= 32|issue= 2 | pages= 120–23| access-date= 2 February 2015|display-authors=etal | doi=10.1097/inf.0b013e3182717f0b|pmid= 23334339 |s2cid= 46492038 }}</ref>

Many {{Transliteration|he|mohalim}} continue the practice of listing the names and birthdates of the boys they circumcise in [[Mohel book|little booklets]]. These books have become important documents for genealogical scholarship. Increasingly, these notes on circumcision are being digitized.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Birth Culture. Jewish Testimonies from Rural Switzerland and Environs |year=2022 |isbn=978-3796546075 |editor-last=Lubrich |editor-first=Naomi |location=Basel |pages=54–123 |language=de, en}}</ref>