milah

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English

Etymology

Romanization of מילה (Hebrew for cut)

Noun

milah (plural milahs)

  1. the first step in the bris, where the akroposthion is excised (later followed by periah, then posthetomy, then metzitza)
    • 1892, Yearbook of the Central Conference of American Rabbis page 16
      Milah is ordained in the Bible
    • 1901, Isidore Singer, Cyrus Adler, The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day · Volume 4 page 99‎:
      The operation consists of three parts: " milah," " peri'ah," and " mezizah."
      Milah: The child having been placed uppon a pillow resting upon the lap of the godfather or "sandek", the mohel exposes the parts by removal of the parts by removal of the garments, etc., and instructs the sandek how to hold the child's legs. The mohel then grasps the prepuce between the thumb and index-finger of his left hand, exerting sufficient traction to draw it from the glans, and places the shield in position just before the glans. He now takes the knife and with one sweep excises the foreskin. This completes teh first act.
      Peri'ah: After the excision has been complete, the mohel seizes the inner lining of the prepuce, which still covers the glans, with the thumb-nail
    • 1980, Abraham P. Bloch, The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies, page 12
      The milah (the cutting off of the end of the upper prepuce) is then performed. In medieval Ashkenazic communities it was customary to place the removed prepuce in a container of sand.
    • 1987, Joseph Guttmann, The Jewish Life Cycle, page 4
      Originally in biblical times berit milah may simply have consisted of cutting the Corlah (foreskin) with a flint knife (Exodus 4:25 and Joshua 5 : 2). The rabbis of the talmudic period perhaps added peri`ah (the tearing of the genital mucous membrane and laying bare the glans)
  2. cutting
    • 1997, Angela Wood, John Logan, Jenny Rose, Time and Season, page 60‎:
      When a Jewish baby boy is eight ears old, there is a ceremony called a brit milah (or just 'brit') which roughly means 'the covenant of cutting'. It is a family event

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