Religion News Services recently did a press piece on Rabbi Rappaport and how Coronavirus is affecting home circumcisions and religious Bris Milat services in the Jewish community.

 

 

We reference part of that article below and you may click the Read More button to read the full article from religionnews.com at the bottom of this page.

 

 

“Before the pandemic, Rappaport, an Orthodox rabbi who also runs a Columbia, Maryland, financial services company, typically performed five to seven circumcisions a week. Since mid-March, that number has soared to 10 to 15 weekly, which he believes is mostly due to restrictions on elective surgery related to the coronavirus pandemic. 

 

 

That he is seeing more Jewish boys having a ritual circumcision — called a bris or brit, Hebrew for “covenant” — is meaningful to Rappaport, a second-generation mohel who has performed 4,000 circumcisions.

 

 

As recounted in Genesis 17, Abraham, 99, circumcised himself and the male members of his household, including Ishmael, as part of making a covenant between his family and God. A bris establishes a bond between an 8-day-old boy and God, and ceremonial blessings recognize the ‘covenant of Abraham’.”