Mr. Abrams returned joyously from the hospital; his wife had given birth to another boy. He asked Rabbi Miller, the mohel who had circumcised his previous boys, to perform the bris. “I would be honored,” replied Rabbi Miller. “When and where is the bris scheduled?”
“A week from today, 7:45 at Congregation Bris Avraham,” replied Mr. Abrams.
“It’s on my calendar,” said Rabbi Miller. “There’s a slight chance that I might have to fly out suddenly, though, so it would be wise to confirm the day before.”
The day before the bris, Mr. Abrams called Rabbi Miller to confirm his availability. There was no answer. After a few unsuccessful tries, he left an urgent message to return his call.
Toward evening, Mr. Abrams was tense. “I can’t reach Rabbi Miller,” he said to his wife. “I don’t know whether he’ll be at the bris tomorrow.”
“You can’t risk not having a mohel,” Mrs. Abrams responded. “You have to make alternate arrangements.”
Mr. Abrams called Rabbi Pinchas. “I have a bris tomorrow morning,” he said, “but the mohel said he might fly out. I can’t reach him to confirm. Are you available?”
“I am,” said Rabbi Pinchas. “Give me the details and I’ll be there.”
The following morning, at 7:30, Rabbi Miller and Rabbi Pinchas showed up simultaneously.
“What’s going on?” Rabbi Miller asked Mr. Abrams.
”I tried reaching you yesterday but there was no answer,” Mr. Abrams replied. “I was concerned that you flew out, so I arranged with Rabbi Pinchas to come.”
“There was a problem with my phone yesterday,” said Rabbi Miller. “But I’m here, like we arranged. I would have contacted you if there was a change.”
“I understood that you wanted me to do the bris,” countered Rabbi Pinchas.
Mr. Abrams turned to Rabbi Dayan: “Whom should I honor with the bris?” he asked.
“Maharam of Rothenberg ruled, in a similar case, that once the father awarded the privilege to a certain mohel, he may not retract,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “He compares this to one who regularly gives his tithes to a certain kohen or levi – makirei kehunah. Since the kohen is regularly awarded the tithes, they are automatically considered his upon tithing. [Gittin 30a; B.M. 49a] Thus, once the first mohel was awarded the privilege of performing the bris it is dishonest to retract. Nonetheless, if the father did retract from his commitment, the privilege is granted to the second mohel.” (Responsa, Prague edition 4:949)
“Is arranging out of doubt considered implicitly retracting?” asked Mr. Abrams.
“Maharik [#76] writes that arranging out of doubt with a second mohel is not considered as retracting from the first mohel, unless the father stated so clearly,” answered Rabbi Dayan. “Thus, Rabbi Miller should perform the bris. Maharik further derives from the analogy to makirei kehunah that even if the father did not explicitly arrange with the first mohel but regularly honors him with circumcising his children, he should not honor another.” (Rama Y.D. 264:1)
“Beyond honesty, does the first mohel have any legal claim to the privilege?” asked Mr. Abrams.
“The Mordechai [Shabbos #472] cites from Maharam that since the practice is to commit verbally, the commitment is legally binding based on the common practice, situmta,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “However, the Rosh (Responsa 12:3) questions whether there is such a commercial practice and further argues that words alone do not form a binding obligation, even if there is such a common practice.” (C.M. 201:1-2)
“Nowadays that the mohel is often paid for his services, though,” concluded Rabbi Dayan, “if the mohel turned down another opportunity due to the arrangement, the father would have to compensate the mohel if he retracted and the mohel did not find a replacement bris.” (C.M. 333:2)
