Ritual circumciser’s often owned their own, personal copies of books (“mohel books”) containing works pertaining to the circumcision ritual and prayers and recitations to accompany the ceremony. In the 17th-18th centuries and beyond, some commissioned the creation of beautiful, decorated manuscript copies for their use over time. These volumes typically included the circumciser’s record of the circumcisions he performed, including the dates of the ritual and the names given to the infants. These lists constitute a valuable record of the lives of specific Jewish communities. 

In the image on this page, you see an illustration of how the ritual would have been enacted in 18th century Germany: the infant is held in the lap of the gentleman sitting on Elijah’s Chair (the circumcision of a new Jewish baby boy is seen to carry redemptive promise, and Elijah is the prophet who, in Jewish tradition, will announce the coming of the Messiah), while the gentlemen on either side hold cups of wine to be used during the ceremony. Note that the dress of those assembled is in the same style as that of their neighbors.