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Brit milah (Hebrew: בְּרִית מִילָה) is the Jewish ritual circumcision ceremony performed on eight-day-old male babies. The foreskin is cut off from the end of the penis. The operation is carried out by a person called a mohel, a ritual circumciser, who has been trained and qualified for this task. This ceremony is important for many Jewish people as it is a symbol of the covenant that God made with Abraham. Some mohels then optionally suck the blood out of the area of the circumcision wound using their mouth which is called "metzitzah b'peh" and is a tradition among many followers of Judaism. However this is known to possibly cause infectious diseases such as Herpes simplex. Multiple babies have died from the controversial ritual. Some Jews say that limiting the practice would violate their religious freedom.
