My Gratitude and Your Responsibility As a Parent

Last week I was privileged to serve as the mohel for an Israeli family living in the Aventura area. I doubt this information will be enough to identify them. :)

The baby's mother called me for the first time around 3 months ago, after scouring my website. She had a lot of questions. We talked about a lot of things, mostly sterility, track record, healing time, what happens with the baby afterwards.

To make a long story just a little shorter than it could be, they hired me. The bris went beautifully. And all is good. I am always grateful for the trust parents put in my mohel-skills, and I thank God that this is the run-of-the-mill experience we share together.

When I called around a week after the bris to see how baby is, she told me that a friend of hers just used a certain mohel - who caters to a large segment of the Israeli population in Hollywood, Aventura, etc - and the child had bleeding problems and needed to go the hospital, where he was placed on antibiotics for an infection, and kept there for 3 days.

The woman I serviced was shocked and dismayed, and I am horrified as well. Because, except in the rare case of previously undetected hemophilia, THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN.

My "client" told me her friends ridiculed her for hiring me (they don't know me), and for not going with the go-to guy. The difference, she told me, is that she researched this, made many phone calls, interviewed mohels, and determined, through what she found, who was best for her family and situation. And was so pleased with our encounters that she said, "When we have our next son, I'm calling you first!"

This particular mohel in question has a track record of sending kids to the hospital. I have spoken to several doctors who have treated his patients. He might be a nice man when dealing with people. But he badmouths every mohel in South Florida, tells parents he is the only one who gives a "kosher brit," while he doesn't wear gloves or use safety techniques to protect the baby from harm. All of which, of course, is disgraceful behavior.

so here it comes; YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A PARENT

Do your Research
Know What Questions to Ask
Know What Answers You are Looking For
And remember, we are dealing with YOUR BABY and NOT the MOHEL'S EGO

If your mohel has an excellent track record, and babies never go to the hospital because of his work, Baruch Hashem, great.You still owe it to him to do your research.

I thank God EVERY DAY that no baby that I have circumcised has ever needed medical intervention as a direct result of the bris I have done. I bless every mohel and parent to have a similar track record.