Hendon parents hold brit milah ceremony on Zoom amid coronavirus lockdown

Hendon parents Natalie and Nathaniel Bendayan held their son’s brit milah on Zoom amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The circumcision was performed by Rabbi Mordechai Cohen, who officiated at the Bendayans’ wedding a decade ago.

The ceremony was held in their living room under “strict conditions and precautions”, with 70 families tuning in from Israel, Canada, Gibraltar, and the UK using the video conferencing platform.

The couple had initially postponed Judah’s bris in the hope restrictions would soon be lifted and that they could fulfil the mitzvah together with friends and family.

“But this week, we came to the realisation that it wouldn’t be the case for a very long time, and so we had to change our plan,” the mum-of-three told Jewish News on Thursday.

Friends and family “all got to be a part of it,” she said, describing the experience as “very emotional and special for everybody”.

Maintaining traditions during the pandemic is “so important”, she said, adding that “many parts of our Jewish life have been put on hold, especially now coming up to Pesach.”

Judah, who was born 10 weeks premature in January, was discharged from hospital in March. Hosting a virtual bris was a chance for friends and family to meet him for the first time, the mum said.

“Everyone was waiting for such a long time to see him, and to be honest, most of my family haven’t even met him yet, even though he’s almost three months old because everyone is in isolation,”she said.

“We had lots of lovely messages from everyone after saying how happy they felt to have been a part of it with everything that’s going on to have a celebration and something joyful and happy to watch,” she added.