New Haven rabbi adds mohel to his list of accomplishments
By Howard Blas

Rabbi Dov Greer of New Haven has traveled around the world in his quest to become a mohel (one skilled in performing ritual circumcisions).
A graduate of Yale University, Greer notes that he was always interested in mila-so much so that he would take off time from his studies at a yeshiva in Israel to "follow "around" a respected Yemenite mohel.
Greer, whose father is a rabbi and teacher in New Haven and whose brother is trained in shechitah (Jewish ritual slaughter), was born in Jerusalem.
The Greers spent some time in New York before settling in New Haven when Dov was three years old.  In New Haven, Dov attended the Yeshiva of New Haven, the school founded by his parents Rabbi Daniel and Rebbetzin Sarah Greer.  Dov continued his high school studies at the Yeshiva of New Haven, followed by a year of learning in Rabbi Tzvi Kushelevsky's yeshiva in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Shaul.
Dov again returned to New Haven, where he attended Yale University and studied military history.
 with Professor Paul Kennedy.
Upon his graduation from Yale, Greer went back to Israel for two and a half years, where he studied at the Brisk Yeshiva for two and a half years. Greer next moved to Lakewood, N.J., to continue his yeshiva studies.
Next, he decided he wanted to "learn in-depth the laws of family purity, which are important to know if you are going to be a rabbi." 
Greer then went to Israel to study both the laws of family purity and the laws of intricate laws of Shabbat; he learned with Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovitz, a well-known posek (decider of Jewish laws). 
The last two years have been quite eventful in the Greer family:  son Moshe and daughter Rachel were born, wife Sima completed her bachelors degree in Jewish studies, and Greer received smicha from Rabbi Zalmen Nechemia Goldberg.   Recently, Greer has taken over some of the rabbinical responsibilities for the Yeshiva of New Haven shul for his father. 
And he has been busy with mohel training and responsibilities.
"When I decided I wanted to study to be a mohel, I did research on the best courses," recounts Greer.  "I learned of the Initiation Society in London, England, run by the London Beit Din, which is under the auspices of Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks."
Greer contacted both Dayan Ehrentroy, who runs the London Beit Din and is also a mohel.  And he spoke with Dr. Joseph Spitzer, a general practitioner in the Stanford Hills community of London, who serves as the head medical officer of the Initiation Society.  Dr. Spitzer is also an author on Jewish Medical Ethics and a medical consultant for the London Hatzalah ambulance organization. Dr. Spitzer must approve all mohel-candidates.
"I told Dr. Spitzer that I wanted to be a mohel, and he told me to come to England for an interview. He even invited me to come to England for two weeks and to stay in his house."  
Greer was accepted in to the program and returned to England in the summer of 2005 to spend two and a half months in the training program.  As part of the training, Greer went around with expert mohalim, observed difficult cases, and performed 50-60 britot. In England, notes Greer, mohalim carry malpractice insurance and perform almost all circumcisions, even for non-Jews.   
At the completion of the training, Greer passed both parts of his exam, which consisted of performing a circumcision in front of a physician and a mohel, and taking a one-hour oral test on the laws of circumcision.   Greer now serves as a mohel in New Haven and throughout Connecticut.
"To be a mohel, you must learn three things," reports Greer. "The technical aspects, the halachot (Jewish laws), and menschlichkeit (bedside manner) -- you must be sensitive to the parents and the child."