Mohel neonatal HSV and two recorded fatalities. A 2013 review of cases of neonatal HSV infections in Israel identified ritual circumcision as the source of HSV-1 transmission in 31.8% of the cases. According to traditional Jewish law, in the absence of a Jewish male expert, a woman that has the required skills is also authorized to perform the circumcision, provided that she is Jewish. Non-Orthodox Judaism allows female "mohels", called "mohalot" (, plural of "mohelet", feminine of "mohel"), without restriction. In 1984, Dr. Deborah Cohen became the first certified Reform Jewish mohelet; she was certified by the Berit Mila Program of
The Cares of a Family Man biographical weight to this argument. A religious perspective opens up another interpretation of the text. Goetschel indicates that the star-shaped form of the creature might represent tradition (specifically Jewish tradition), which is passed on from generation to generation and accumulates some more bits of "thread" in each generation. According to Meksin, Odradek represents a rupture between the world of the family man and some other transcendent realm. It is immortal, and hides in shadows carrying a message from generation to generation, and witnessing it all. Meksin goes on to indicate that the physical description of Odradek with its wooden crossbar