창세기 18:13의 Halakhah

Rav Hershel Schachter rules that we should follow Rav Shlomo Zalman's approach. Rav J. David Bleich (Tradition Summer 2001 - vol. 35 no. 2:,61-62) notes that the same rule applies to a child conceived through in vitro fertilization. Parents for whom this is relevant should discretely inform the mohel, as he is unlikely to inquire as to how the baby was conceived. Rav Bleich writes that in order to protect the family's privacy, parents may tell people that the brit will not take place on Shabbat because the baby was a caesarean-section birth or jaundiced. One may tell a "white lie" in such circumstances because Halachah sometimes permits lying for the sake of maintaining peace.¹³²See Rashi to Breishit 18:13 and Rav Daniel Feldman’s The Right and the Good, pp. 75-94. We should note, however, that Rav Ovadia Yosef (see Yalkut Yosef, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch p. 904) rules that one may perform a brit on Shabbat on a baby that was conceived by artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. He either agrees with Rav Shlomo Zalman’s first interpretation of Rabbeinu Chananel or he does not believe that Rabbeinu Chananel’s approach constitutes normative Halachah. The fact that the Rambam and other Rishonim do not articulate a similar approach leads one to this conclusion.