“The Removal of a Drop of Blood”
Part of the mitzvah of the ritual circumcision is the removal of blood from the site of the foreskin. In a regular circumcision blood flows naturally as a result of the cutting.
The following are examples of cases, even from people who have been completely circumcised, where a drop of blood must be removed:
- A person who is circumcised before the eighth day of his life
- A person who was sick and his circumcision should have been postponed until he had been healthy for seven days, but it was not postponed.
- A person who was circumcised at night
- A person who was circumcised by a gentile
- A person who was circumcised by someone who desecrates the Sabbath, or by an uncircumcised Jew
- When a person was born circumcised (the mohel examines to ascertain whether there is no foreskin whatsoever)
- A circumcised gentile who converts
- A person who was circumcised using a device known as a clamp (it completely prevents the flow of blood at the site of the cut).
In all these cases a drop of blood must be removed (a small scratch) by a mohel, instead of the foreskin beneath the glans penis.
