The unique event occurred in late November in the Jewish community of Bryansk, 380 kilometers southeast of Moscow. Rabbi Ze'ev Wagner, who serves communities throughout central Russia, and Evgeny Adler, a young local Jewish activist, helped arrange the octuple ceremony.
The eight circumcised males ranged from newborn babies to youth and fully-grown men. According to long-time Jewish residents of Bryansk, a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, these were the first britot in the town since 1945.
The mohel, or ritual circumciser, was Rabbi Yeshayahu Shafit of the Brit Yosef Yitzchak organization. He has chalked up hundreds of thousands of kilometers flying to britot all over Russia. This was the first time he performed as many as eight britot in one day.
Rabbi Shafit was assisted by Dr. Albert Belenkiy, an active member of the local community. Rabbi Wagner attempted to convince Dr. Belenkiy to be circumcised as well, to no avail - at first. Moved by the reactions of the "patients," however, and impressed by Dr. Shafit's skills, the 40-year-old physician soon agreed to be circumcised himself. He ran home to bring papers proving his mother's Jewishness, and underwent the religious procedure.
Among the other newly-circumcised Jews were the three-month-old grandson of Irina Cherniak, who founded the local "Hesed" (kindness) organization in 1995, the 22-year-old grandson of a Jewish World War II veteran who regularly frequents the Bryansk Synagogue, and local students. Following the ceremony, the adult Jews put on tefillin.