Women and Circumcision

Exodus 4:25-26 recounts that Zipporah took a flint and circumcised her son on her own accord (though some claim that Zipporah did not actually perform the circumcision but only gave the order for it). Whether women may circumcise was debated in the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 27a). Rabbi Yochanan allowed it, but Rav forbade it. Following R Yochanan, the Sheiltot ruled that women may perform circumcisions. There is evidence, from 1 Maccabees and Megillat Antiochus, of women actually performing circumcisions. The medieval Spanish authorities allowed a woman to circumcise in the absence of a man. While nearly all authorities in Germany until the 13th century allowed women to act as a mohelet, some of the Tosafot and then all later Ashkenazi authorities followed the opinion of Rav and have prohibited women from performing circumcisions.