Max Mintz: “It’s the perfect job. It’s always a very happy occasion.” (Vicki Samuels Levy/Jewish Herald Voice)
Max Mintz
Foreskin count: About 10,000.
Market niche: Houston.
First bris: My wife’s cousin’s son in Beaumont, Texas. All three mohels in Houston were unavailable. As a pediatrician, I had done plenty of surgical circumcisions. If you know how to do something surgically, just changing to another instrument is not so difficult. And the ritual method is so much simpler, so it’s much less complicated. You get a much better result in a much shorter period of time.
Most memorable bris: At the Tulsa airport. I had to check my instruments as baggage, and the luggage got lost. The airline eventually found it and put it on the next flight in, but there wasn’t enough time to get to the shul and then back for me to make my flight out. So we brought food, wine and challah to the airport, and I did it in the chapel there.
Time: About a minute, plus prep.
Inspiration: It’s the perfect job. It’s always a very happy occasion. I don’t have to do funerals like a rabbi. Everyone wants to meet you, to feed you. You’re bringing another child into the covenant between God and the Jewish people – it’s very gratifying.
Retirement? I’m 73, but I’ll keep doing it till I get shaky. As long as people want me to, and as long as I’m no danger to the child.
Device of choice: Mogen clamp. Its big disadvantage is, if you’re not trained well you can cause an amputation.
Anesthesia: I do use a local anesthetic, so you don’t hear a baby screaming in pain.
Price: $300-$350
Website: texasmohel.com
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