DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 1.48 MB)
If a Mohel Performing a Berit on Shabbat Cannot Perform the Mesisa

Hacham Eliyahu Shama Ha’levi (Chief Rabbi of Aleppo, d. 1814), in his work Machshireh Mila (12:44), addresses the case of a Mohel who performs a Berit on Shabbat for a child on the child’s eighth day, but is unable to perform the Mesisa – the extraction of blood from the wound after the circumcision. This can happen in the case of a Mohel with an infection in his mouth, and could thus endanger the child if he performs the Mesisa. The Shulhan Aruch rules that the two stages of the act of circumcision (the "Mila" and "Peri’a") may not be divided among two different Mohalim when a Berit is performed on Shabbat, and the question thus becomes whether somebody else can perform the Mesisa if the Mohel performed the entire circumcision.

Hacham Eliyahu Shama writes that since it is considered dangerous to perform a Berit on an infant without Mesisa, this situation falls under the category of "Piku’ah Nefesh" – a potentially life-threatening condition – such that the Shabbat prohibitions are suspended. Even though extracting blood from a wound is normally forbidden on Shabbat, it is allowed in this circumstance, due to the potential risk for the child if Mesisa is not performed.

However, the Hacham adds that a Mohel who creates such a situation requires atonement. If a Mohel knows that he would be unable to perform Mesisa, he must not perform the Mila at all, and should instead have another Mohel perform the Berit in his stead.

Summary: If a Mohel has an infection in his mouth, such that he cannot perform the Mesisa after the Berit, he should not perform a Berit on Shabbat; a different Mohel should perform the Berit. If, however, the Mohel with an infection did perform a Berit on Shabbat, somebody else should perform the Mesisa.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Carrying on Shabbat: Rings and Pins
Is it Permissible to Exercise or Have a Massage on Shabbat?
The Custom to Read Shir Hashirim On Friday Night
Using Voice Activation Systems on Shabbat
The Time For Ending Shabbat
May One Violate Shabbat to Protect His Property From Looters?
Customs When Announcing Rosh Hodesh in the Synagogue on Shabbat
Is it Permissible to Repeat Sections of the Torah Reading to Add Aliyot?
Moving Candlesticks on Shabbat After the Flames Go Out
Which Prayers May Be Recited by the Light of the Shabbat Candles?
Tying Neckties and Garbage Bags on Shabbat
Tying and Untying Knots on Shabbat
Is It Permissible to Trap a Deer Inside a Home on Shabbat?
Is It Permissible to Trap a Bug on Shabbat?
Trapping Explained- One of the 39 Forbidden Melachot on Shabbat
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found