In all religions and traditions the people have customs and Rites of Passage to follow. In Catholicism for example there are sacraments that the parishioners are expected to fulfill. Baptism, Reconciliation, and Confirmation are just a few of the many sacraments to strive for as a Catholic child. The same ideas are carried over into the Jewish Tradition. These Rites of Passage date back many more years then many of the other religion's ceremonies; back to the time of Abraham. The Jewish Tradition has such Rites of Passage as circumcision, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, choosing a name, marriage and death. To talk about all of them would take days and many typed pages. For many outsiders circumcision and Bar/Bat Mitzvah seem to be very compelling. Each Rite of Passage is done for a certain reason and follows a certain process to fulfill God's will.
             When a Jewish woman is in her ninth month of pregnancy it is time to start thinking about the circumcision ceremony that will take place eight days after the birth of a son, assuming that is what she will deliver. The circumcision ceremony must happen the morning of the eighth day of life, unless the boy is in no condition to have it performed. If the boy is ill or hospitalized then the family will wait until the next available day the boy can handle the procedure. Many times jaundice is a case where the circumcision will wait. The Jewish people have trained specialists to perform the circumcision; called the Mohel. In the early days of Judaism the father would also sometimes perform the ceremony. Most commonly now the Mohel is designated as the person to perform the circumcision. Before going on about the process, its nice to have some background on why the Jewish people started to circumcise the males.
             The circumcision is commonly known as A Brit, which also mean covenant. Brit is short for the word Brit Milah, which actually means circumcision. Abraham at the ripe old...