Mohel Mohel A mohel ( , Ashkenazi pronunciation , plural: "mohalim" , "mohala", "circumciser") is a Jew trained in the practice of "brit milah", the "covenant of circumcision." The noun "mohel" ("mohala" in Aramaic) "circumciser", is derived from the same verb stem as "milah" "circumcision." The noun appeared for the first time in the fourth century as the title of a circumciser (Shabbat 156a). For Jews, male circumcision is mandatory, as it is prescribed in the Torah. In the Book of Genesis as a mark of the Covenant between God and the descendants of Abraham: "Throughout all generations, every male shall
If This Is a Man (German for "sub-humans"), and to Levi's examination of the degree to which it was possible for a prisoner in Auschwitz to retain his or her humanity. The poem explains the title and sets the theme of the book: humanity in the midst of inhumanity. The last part of the poem, beginning "meditate", explains Levi's purpose in having written it: to record what happened so that later generations will ponder (a more literal translation of "meditare") the significance of the events he lived through. It also parallels the language of the "V'ahavta", the Jewish prayer that commands followers to remember and