Brisful Duty

Mohel Blends Tradition, Technology
L.A. Times, 4/97

It is written (Genesis, 17:10- 14) that Jewish fathers are commanded to circumcise their newborn male children on the eighth day of the baby's life. Fortunately for Jewish boys, it is written somewhere else that if the father doesn't feel up to the task, he can give the job to a qualified representatives Mohel. Dr. Fred R. Kogen, a Los Angeles mohel, practices this most ancient and sacred of rituals in Judaism, the berit mila, the covenant of circumcision, known more familiarly as a bris. It's a festive, beautiful and intimate family ceremony where-bagels, and cream cheese close by-the infant boy loses a foreskin and gains his official religious name. This may strike some people as a tough trade, but thus it has been among the Jews for thousands of years.

At the bris ceremonies he conducts, Kogen says the same prayers that his predecessor Mohels have intoned since the days when the Bible was new. He uses a modernized but essentially identical version of the same primary instruments-a mogen shield- that mohels have used for thousands of years. And, just as mohels did in biblical days, Kogen keeps track of his client families with File-Maker Pro database software running on a Macintosh PowerPC Performa 6115 CD personal computer. Not to mention the Web site www.briss.com, which is very similar to the Web site Abraham surfed on to when he first received the covenant of the circumcision from God, ages ago.

OK, perhaps use of Macintosh computers and the Internet don't quite date back to the days of Abraham, but mohels are traditionally self-promoters, and Kogen finds these elements of new technology indispensable when it comes to reaching out to clients. His Web pages contain background about Kogen and his philosophy about circumcision and the bris ceremony; a short but thorough outline of the origins, practice and significance of the bris; and a briefing on how to prepare for the mohel and the procedure.

"These days, people expect information right now, and anything I can do to get them that information quickly is a positive thing for me and for them, so the Web site is an enormous help," Kogen said. "You'd be amazed at how many people don't think about the bris until after the kid is born, and suddenly they have to make a decision and find a mohel immediately. I guess sometimes they're expecting girls."

"The faster the parents get information in their hands, the more comfortable they'll be with the idea of a bris and the decision to use me as their mohel," Kogen said.

Kogen's calling takes him all over Los Angeles and the state, driving or flying to San Diego, San Francisco and even to Nevada. He has become a favorite among the Hollywood set, taking center stage at numerous big industry bris brunches, and has circumcised the sons of the famous, the beautiful and the talented, including the children of "Seinfeld's" Jason Alexander and actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

He drove far out into the Mojave Desert to perform a bris for the newborn son of a Jewish member of a motorcycle gang, whose close friends stood by, leather-clad and weeping through the moving ceremony, and toasting liberally with sweet Kosher wine.

To cope with the vicissitudes of travel and scheduling, Kogen has become one of the most wired of mohels: He can be e-mailed, paged, faxed, voice- mailed and called on his cell phone.

"My assistant can reach me anywhere," he said. "Since I travel all the time, I need every method to stay in touch with my clients and my assistant to keep the scheduling straight."

For the record, Kogen-a fully trained and credentialed medical doctor-uses other modern medical trappings in his circumcisions, such as topical anesthetics and Tylenol, to minimize the baby's pain and antibiotic dressings after the procedure.

Freelance writer Paul Karon can be reached via e-mall at pkaron@pacbell.net

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