Definition of Brit milah

Brit milah (Hebrew: בְרִית מִילָה [bə'rīt mī'lā] literally: "covenant [of] circumcision"), also berit milah (Sephardi), bris milah (Ashkenazi pronunciation) or bris (Yiddish) is a religious ceremony within Judaism to welcome infant Jewish boys into a covenant between God and the Children of Israel through ritual circumcision performed by a mohel ("circumciser"), on the eighth day after birth unless health reasons force a delay, in the presence of family and friends, followed by a celebratory meal (seudat mitzvah). The ritual had virtually been unchallenged within the religion until the nineteenth century advent of Reform Judaism.