Seudat Mitzvah - Seudat Brit Milah

Seudat Brit Milah

Attendance at a brit milah (circumcision) and its subsequent seudah is of such great significance that Rabbi Moshe Isserles ("the Rama") notes (Yoreh De'ah 265:12) that one who is invited but does not participate in the seudat brit milah is excommunicated from Hashem (God). (Babylonian Talmud tractate Pesachim 113b; Tosafot Pesachim 114a s.v. "Veein"). For this reason, people are generally not invited, but merely informed of the brit's time and location (Pitchei Teshuva Y.D. 265:18; Arukh HaShulkhan 265:37). Talmudic sages have compared a brit to a Korban (Temple offering), and eating at a seudat brit milah to eating a Temple offering. Hasidic Jews generally insist on serving meat at a seudat brit milah since most Temple offerings were meat. Sharing a meal is considered a bonding experience celebrating the covenant between God and the Jewish people.