Hilarious video about the bris of a convert on Rosh Hashanah
Photo by YidLife Crisis
By Rukhl Schaechter September 18, 2023
In this hilarious episode of YidLife Crisis, comic duo Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion attend the bris of a friend, Abdul, who’s converting to Judaism on Rosh Hashanah.
During the celebration, Elman (played by Chaimie) defends Abdul’s decision to have samosas at his circumcision celebration.
Meanwhile, Leizer (Batalion) thinks he’s met the Jewish woman of his dreams at the hors d’ouvres table, until he learns of her shocking secret.
As usual, the dialogue and behavior between the two is blunt, irreverent and in Yiddish. But not to worry: English subtitles are included.
This brings up the question: Can a bris actually be performed on one of the holiest days of the year? Especially when considering that certain actions during the procedure — like spilling blood — are forbidden on shabbos and holidays. The answer is complicated. Because the Torah clearly states that a newborn son must be circumcised eight days after his birth, a mohel is required to perform the bris even if it falls out on a holy day.
But this pertains only to a newborn and only for the procedure itself. The mohel still needs to be within walking distance of the celebration. And it also doesn’t pertain to gerim (converts). Since a ger can have the bris at any time, it’s forbidden to perform a bris on him on shabbos or a Jewish holiday.
On the other hand, just like poets are given poetic license to write whatever they wish in the name of good literature, one could argue that comedians have license to do the same in the name of good comedy!
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rukhl Schaechter, Yiddish Editor
