 In many places, mohels are also licensed by civil authorities, as circumcision is technically a surgical procedure.Kohanim, who must avoid contact with dead human body parts (such as the removed foreskin) for ritual purity, cannot act as mohels, but some mohels are also either rabbis or cantors.Another licensed cleric in Judaism is the "shochet", who are trained and licensed by religious authorities for kosher slaughter according to ritual law.