Dear Fred,

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your service yesterday, bringing our son into the folds of our tradition. This was the second time we have entrusted our most precious possession to your hands (figuratively and literally) and, just as before, everything worked out even better than expected. Your ability to engage the audience (some Jewish and some not) and make them feel they are part of the ceremony is a unique quality that was definitely one of the main reasons we "commissioned" you as our family Mohel. The other reason is your approach to the procedure - your main concern is the welfare of the child and the parents and so the medical methodology (and equipment) you use results in a minimally intrusive and very quick (around 60 seconds or so) procedure. It was wonderful to see that our newborn hardly cried during and after the circumcision and that in itself made the ceremony go very smoothly.

The reason we are so happy that we "found" you is that we had quite a different experience with our first child. The person (who shall remain nameless but is well-known in your industry) used the method that is performed in hospitals - strapping the newborn to a restraining board and using a more cumbersome cutting tool. I ended up spending close to thirty minutes in the bathroom assisting him, with blood everywhere and the baby crying like there is no tomorrow - all the while our guests and the anguished mother (hearing her baby scream but not able to do anything about it) are waiting in the living room for the nightmare to be over. Having experienced both "approaches" to the ceremony I am at a loss to understand why anyone would choose such an inhuman way of bringing a child into the humanity-rich tradition that Judaism is. After all, you recite the same blessings, in the same order, and have the same "authority" to make the ceremony official as anyone other Mohel, but cause a lot less pain (physically and emotionally) to both the child and the parents. And lastly, the fact that you place the child on a pillow and have the Sandak(s) and the parents "assist" you while performing the actual circumcision in front of everyone makes the ceremony much more in line with the way this was performed through the thousands of years of Jewish life.

So, even if we do not plan to use you services again (three sons is where we draw the line) I would hope that you stay in touch and call from time to time to see how the kids are doing. I would also like you to publish this letter on your website as I hope that other families, both first-time parents or those with additional arrivals, could learn from our diversified experience.

Sincerely,

Ori Amrami

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