Shlomo had the Brit Milah on the 10th of January. Supposedly, it should be made on the 8th day after birth but because he was yellow (jaundice), we were compelled to wait until his bilirubin levels are normal. Finally, we made it with a muhel/muel at home with some immediate family members.

I am posting a brief research I made especially for my family and fiends to understand what is circumcision and it's real significance to the Jewish people. The research was taken from Wikipedia and you could read the whole and deatiled chapter on this topic on their site. What's posted here are the most important and basic information about brit milah.

"Brit milah (Hebrew: בְּרִית מִילָה [bə'rīt mī'lā] literally: "covenant of circumcision"), also berit milah (Sephardi), bris milah (Ashkenazi pronunciation) or bris (Yiddish) is a religious ceremony within Judaism to welcome infant Jewish boys into a covenant between God and the Children of Israel through ritual circumcision performed by a mohel ("circumciser"), on the eighth day of the child's life unless health reasons force a delay, in the presence of family and friends, followed by a celebratory meal (seudat mitzvah).

According to the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Genesis 17:1-14, circumcision was enjoined when God said "Walk before Me and be perfect" to the Biblical patriarch Abraham to be followed by his descendants as "a token of the covenant" concluded with him by God for all generations. It is also when his name is changed from "Abram" to "Abraham" by God.

As stated in the Torah or bible : "God [then] said to Abraham, As far as you are concerned, you must keep My covenant - you and your offspring throughout their generations. This is My covenant between Me, and between you and your offspring that you must keep: You must circumcise every male. You shall be circumcised through the flesh of your foreskin. This shall be the mark of the covenant between Me and you. Throughout all generations, every male shall be circumcised when he is eight days old. [This shall include] those born in your house, as well as [slaves] bought with cash from an outsider, who is not your descendant. [All slaves,] both houseborn and purchased with your money must be circumcised. This shall be My covenant in your flesh, an eternal covenant. The uncircumcised male whose foreskin has not been circumcised, shall have his soul cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

Brit milah is considered to be so important that should the eighth day fall on the Sabbath, actions that would normally be forbidden because of the sanctity of the day are permitted in order to fulfill the requirement to circumcise.

To conclude everything, Shlomo and his brother Ben Dov, though circumcized, are not fully recognized Jews but they will be, together with their two sisters 8-9 months from now after I finish my conversion. So wish me luck!

Elaine