A Legend from Warsaw: The Mohel's Resting Place and Its Blessing

"And a double-edged sword in his hand" - this is inscribed on his tombstone.

Among the hundreds of thousands of graves in Warsaw's Jewish cemetery, known as "Der Genscher Cemetery," one of the largest in the world, one caught my attention - the resting place of the mohel Rabbi Kapil Vitelezohn, of blessed memory, who served for approximately 60 years as the mohel of Warsaw.

Carved into his tombstone is a mohel's knife, beneath which sits a two-seater bench, a chair for Elijah the Prophet, inscribed as the Chair of Elijah, Blessed Memory.

It is said, in whispers passed down, that among the women of Warsaw and its suburbs, a visit to Rabbi Kapil's grave, sitting on his chair, promises the blessing of a baby boy.