So what is mohel?
Well I am just learning all kids of new words this week:
A mohel is a Jewish term one who is trained to perform a circumcision.
And then, of course, I had to look up the very next phrase that I didn’t want to assume from context clues.
So a “bris” is the actual ceremony of circumcision.
And I love the line, “the kind of afternoon people look back on.” Let’s have more afternoons like that.
More and more moments of my life seem to be frozen like this.
At some point, the mohel, who conducts the bris, said the prayers. Prayers in Hebrew always sound so sad, songs of a lost people. Then the knife. The baby cried. Drinks were served. Music played. And slowly, glass by glass, the men gave themselves to the moment, rolling up sleeves, hugging, smiling. It was a frozen instant, the kind of afternoon people look back on.
-Rich Cohen, Tough Jews