YOUR AD HERE »

Ceremony honors a Jewish covenant

Text and photos KRISTIN SKVORC
summit daily news
Summit Daily/Kristin Skvorc
ALL |

Male circumcisions are performed daily in the United States when the baby is born. In the Jewish religion, male circumcisions are generally performed eight days after the birth.

According to the Torah, God commanded Abraham to circumcise himself, his offspring and slaves as part of the everlasting covenant. The ceremony performed to honor this covenant in the Jewish religion is called a Brit milah, which stands for the “covenant of circumcision.”

Frisco parents Dr. Rochelle Bernstein and David Singleton performed a Brit milah ceremony for their newborn Jacob Singleton on Sunday in their home.



Local doctors (Rochelle’s co-workers), family and friends came to support the family and help perform the surgery. Dr. Elizabeth Winfield performed the circumcision with help from Dr. Julie Gelman and Jacob’s grandfather Dr. Dell Bernstein.

When the procedure began, David recited a prayer and Rochelle looked the other way. She performs more than 130 circumcisions a year at work, but did not want to be in the room on Sunday.



“It’s different when it’s your own child,” Bernstein said about not watching the procedure.

David and Rochelle circumcised Jacob in their home as a symbol of Abraham’s covenant with God. They said the ceremony is a reminder to Jewish people of that covenant.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.