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The first stage of a ritual circumcision, the initial cut, is called ''milah'' in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for "covenant," is ''brit'' in the Sephardic pronunciation now used in Israel, or ''bris'' in the Ashkenazic pronunciation used over the centuries by European Jews outside of Spain and Portugal, hence the terms ''brit milah,'' or ''bris milah.'' Most Jewish Americans are familiar with the term "bris," as in "They're having the bris tomorrow." The term bris is well known, but few Jews realize that it means "covenant" rather than [[circumcision]].

The result was a penis that still retained much of the [[foreskin]], with just the tip of the glans protruding.

''Metzitzah b'peh'' (a word that means "sucking" in Hebrew) is a third stage of a traditional Jewish circumcision, although nowadays it is perfomed by only a few rigorously Orthodox mohels. In this stage, the mohel sucks on the bleeding [[penis ]] of the infant with his mouth; this is claimed to reduce bleeding, though the origin and initial significance of this practice is unclear.

|first=L. EmmetEmmett