Hadassah hospital holds brit milah for son of woman in need

Staff from the Hadassah-University Medical Center organized a brit milah for a woman's son when they realized that the new mother did not have the means to do so herself, according to the hospital's spokesperson.The circumcision was held in the hospital with hospital staff accompanying the mother and organizing the entire event because the woman, suffering from medical complications after giving birth, had no family or friends to help her with the event. The new mother is a 39-year-old woman who recently gave birth to her first child and was forced to remain in the hospital for an extended period due to the complications. As word spread that the woman would not be able to organize a brit, hospital staff began offering to help with the event, said maternity ward Head Nurse Nechama Elbilia. "Everyone who heard about it wanted to join in and help," she said, adding that "the story touched everyone.""The connection between us helped the new mother a lot, and the ward's staff and a social worker also helped her during her time here as she was without any family," said Elbilia."We coached her in the early days; we were by her side when she was in pain. Her birth was challenging and necessitated healing and a lot of support that we happily gave her," Elbilia said. "We were by her side in the ward day and night."A mohel (ritual circumciser) volunteered his time and Baruch Niazov, head of the admitting ward, acted as sandak – the one honored to hold the baby boy. The mother was accompanied by a social worker who had accompanied her throughout her hospital stay. This isn't the first time Hadassah staff doubled as event planners and hosted an event at the hospital. A man infected with coronavirus and in critical condition was able to watch his son's wedding after the medical center staff arranged for the wedding to be outside his window in October.