![BRIS_Image01[12].jpg](https://api.thejc.atexcloud.io/image-service/view/acePublic/alias/contentid/1ti9asf4j1qrcroyef1/0/1ti9asf4j1qrcroyef1.webp?f=16%3A9&w=3840&q=0.6)
For most families, the arrival of a baby boy is a time of enormous joy, emotion and adjustment. Alongside the celebrations come questions, decisions and, often, a sense of responsibility. For Jewish families preparing for a bris milah, one of the most important decisions is choosing the right mohel.
Many will already know the name of a trusted mohel through family, friends or their community rabbi. What they may not know is that behind almost all of the mohelim serving families across the UK stands an organisation that has supported Jewish life for more than 280 years.
The BRitish Initiation Society, now known as BRIS, was founded in 1745. It is Anglo-Jewry’s oldest communal organisation serving the entire community, created at a time when many families lived in poverty, organised healthcare was limited and many could not afford a bris for their son. Its founding principle was clear: every Jewish family should be able to fulfil this precious mitzvah with dignity and care.
The world has changed considerably since then, but that commitment has not. For almost three centuries, BRIS has quietly helped turn a founding promise into practical care for successive generations.
Today, BRIS trains and supports mohelim serving communities throughout the UK and beyond. Approximately 60 mohelim are currently included on its register, collectively carrying out more than 1,500 brissim every year.
Much of BRIS’s work takes place quietly, out of sight of the families it ultimately supports. Yet it plays an important role in helping parents approach bris milah with confidence.
Becoming a BRIS-registered mohel involves extensive training in the medical, practical and halachic aspects of bris milah, together with education in hygiene, safeguarding, communication and family care. Before registration, each mohel must satisfy BRIS’s requirements for inclusion on its register.
Registration is not the end of the process. Registered mohelim participate in continuing education and professional development. They must also meet BRIS’s annual registration requirements and have access to professional guidance, advice and support throughout their work.
The mohel’s role extends beyond the ceremony itself. For new parents in particular, a Bris can feel unfamiliar. A mohel will explain what to expect, help the family prepare, answer questions and provide reassurance and guidance before the bris, on the day and afterwards. The aim is to uphold the mitzvah while supporting the baby and his family throughout the experience.
BRIS is a cross-communal organisation under the auspices of the Office of the Chief Rabbi and takes halachic guidance from the London Beth Din. It draws on medical and rabbinic expertise in developing its training and standards, helping it serve families across the spectrum of the Jewish community, throughout the UK and far beyond.
It also works to help ensure that cost or location does not prevent families from accessing a mohel. This remains closely connected to the purpose for which the society was established in the eighteenth century.
Alongside supporting families and mohelim, BRIS has another increasingly important responsibility: helping to safeguard the continued practice of bris milah in the UK. By promoting high standards, supporting mohelim and maintaining a strong and responsible framework for bris milah, BRIS plays a vital part in protecting our ability to freely practice this precious mitzvah with confidence. At a time of growing scrutiny and challenge, that role is more important than ever.
To continue its work, BRIS relies on charitable support. Donations help fund the training of new mohelim, ongoing professional development, including medical, safeguarding and religious standards and access to expert guidance. They also help make support available to families regardless of their circumstances.
Some families may already have experienced the work of BRIS without ever knowing its name. Families who have been guided through a bris by a BRIS-registered mohel may already have benefited from the wider framework of training, guidance and support that stands behind him.
BRIS’s history may stretch back to 1745, but its work is firmly about the future. Every trained mohel, every reassured parent and every baby welcomed into the covenant continues a living tradition.
To find a registered mohel, learn more about preparing for a bris or support the work of BRIS, go to bris.org.uk
020 8050 8938 | info@bris.org.uk | bris.org.uk
Registered charity 207404