mohel

American  

[maw-hel, moh-heyl, moh-uhl, moi-, moh-heyl] / mɔˈhɛl, ˈmoʊ heɪl, ˈmoʊ əl, ˈmɔɪ-, ˈmoʊ heɪl /

noun

Hebrew.

plural

mohalim,

plural

mohels

1. the person who performs the circumcision in the Jewish rite of circumcising a male child on the eighth day after his birth.

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mohel British  

/ ˈmɔɛl, mɔɪl /

noun

1. Judaism a man qualified to conduct circumcisions

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Etymology

Origin of mohel

from Hebrew

Example Sentences

Our “Where Are They Now” story on Lorena Bobbitt erroneously reported that after her rise to national prominence she considered becoming a mohel.

From Washington Post • Jan. 6, 2022

King Edmonds said she is not Jewish, but decided to use a mohel, a person who performs circumcisions in the Jewish faith, to perform the procedure in her home.

From Fox News • Jan. 7, 2020

A female mohel who broke with custom to allow for a topical anesthetic had been found in Riverdale.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 28, 2013

In orthodox Judaism the procedure is mandatory eight days after a baby’s birth, carried out by a mohel, a specially trained rabbi, without painkillers.

From Economist • Sep. 13, 2012

The after-treatment of the circumcised infant is governed more or less by local habits and the individual intelligence of the mohel and his experience.

From History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present Moral and Physical Reasons for its Performance by Remondino, Peter Charles