Mohel מוהל
The father is commanded to circumcise his son; almost always he entrusts it to one who knows how. The mohel travelled the district, and in communities where there was none, there was no covenant either.
The commandment lies on the father, not on the community: "and Abraham circumcised Isaac his son." But the skill is rare, and the father appoints an agent—the mohel, who does it for him, which is why the father's blessing remains the father's.
Who stands by. The sandak holds the child on his knees—an honoured place, given to a teacher, a grandfather, a visiting sage. The chair of Elijah is set out empty: by tradition the prophet who complained that Israel had forsaken the covenant comes as a witness to every circumcision.
What this meant in hard times. Under Hadrian circumcision was forbidden on pain of death, and it was done in secret; in Spain after the expulsion the anusim searched for a mohel for years and paid him as they paid no doctor; in the Soviet Union a few mohalim were left for the whole country, and people travelled half of it to reach them. The list of offices a community can live without is long; the mohel is not on it.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Tanakh
- Genesis 21:4 — Abraham circumcises Isaac — the commandment is the father's
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 264 — who is fit to circumcise and the appointment of a mohel
Basis: Talmud and midrash.