Brit MilahThis morning, a friend of mine had a Brit Milah בְרִית מִילָה for his new son.

They honored my wife and I with the "kovod" (honor) of being the Kvatter.

What is a Brit Milah or Bris? Basically a circumcision, but with a religious ceremony around it. It is kind of funny watching a bris. All the woman are standing, smiling, eagerly awaiting the snip snip from the circumcision. And all the men are standing with their heads down, with a grimacing expression. The the Mohel, the person who performs the circumcision, does the snip (hopefully once) and you hear the baby cry.

The Kvatter are those that carry the baby from the mother to the mohel and then back from the mohel to the mother. My wife took the baby from the mother, handed off the baby to me. I then sprinted (well, walked) down to the mohel and handed the baby off. They do the snip and then some blessings and then they hand the baby back to me. I then hand the baby to my wife, who hands the baby to the mother.

The Kvatter is typically given to a new married couple that does not have kids yet. It is in merit of the young couple to have kids of their own in the future. It was a very very nice honor to get.

Oh, that picture at the top right. It is some random picture from Flickr.