Baby (illustrative)
Baby (illustrative)Thinkstock

A recent survey by the Chief Rabbinate on circumcision showed that 98% of respondents circumcised their sons.

The survey, which included 501 respondents with sons born within the past five years, showed that 86% of those who circumcise do not consider doing otherwise. Among parents under the age of 30, 96% said they had no doubts about whether they would circumcise their sons.

Of those who chose a doctor to perform the circumcision, most (63%) chose someone who is also a certified mohel (someone trained to perform religious circumcisions). However, 6% chose a doctor without religious training, and 1% chose a mohel who is not recognized as certified by the Chief Rabbinate.

The survey also found that 83% of respondents were satisfied with their mohel and will choose him to circumcise their next son, while only 17% would choose someone else. In addition, most parents chose their mohel based on the recommendation of friends (45%) and family (48%). For 27%, previous experience is important, and 10% of parents - especially secular parents - used the internet to aid their search.

After the circumcision, 58% of mohels examined the babies, 19% contacted the parents via telephone to ensure all was well, 17% did not contact the parents at all, and 7% (mostly those who are also doctors) spoke with the parents on the telephone and verified that all was well by viewing photos.

Director-General of the Chief Rabbinate Moshe Dagan said, "It seems that the Israeli public is aware of the Chief Rabbinate's quality of work, and how important it is to a baby's health that the mohel be certified by the Rabbinate. We will continue supervising this holy work, and providing mohels with additional tools to aid them in this work."

The Chief Rabbinate's Circumcision Department Head Rabbi Moshe Morsiano noted, "This survey proves how important a certified mohel is to parents in the State of Israel. Parents understand the importance of the supervision provided by the Mohels' Committee, and the great importance of a mohel's trustworthiness."