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city museum]] BIBLICAL ORIGIN See Also: Circumcision in the Bible According to the says "Walk before Me and be perfect" to the Biblical patriarch Abraham to be followed by his descendants as "a token of the covenant" concluded with him by God for all generations. It is also when his name is changed from "Abram" to "Abraham" by God: 'Abram was 99 years old. God appeared to him and said, 'I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be perfect. I will make a covenant between Me and you, and I will increase your numbers very much.' Abram fell on his face. God spoke to him saying, 'As far as I am concerned, here is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a horde of nations. No longer shall you be called Abram. Your name shall become Abraham, for I have set you up as the father of a horde of nations. I will increase your numbers very, very much, and I will make you into nations - kings will be your descendants. I will sustain My covenant between Me and between you and your descendants after you throughout their generations, an eternal covenant; I will be a God to you and to your offspring after you. To you and your offspring I will give the land where you are now living as a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan shall be [your eternal heritage, and I will be a God to descendants .' God said to Abraham, 'As far as you are concerned, you must keep My covenant - you and your offspring throughout their generations. This is My covenant between Me, and between you and your offspring that you must keep: You must circumcise every male. You shall be circumcised through the flesh of your foreskin. This shall be the mark of the covenant between Me and you. 'Throughout all generations, every male shall be circumcised when he is eight days old. [This shall include those born in your house, as well as bought with cash from an outsider, who is not your descendant. [All slaves, both houseborn and purchased with your money must be circumcised. This shall be My covenant in your flesh, an eternal covenant. The uncircumcised male whose foreskin has not been circumcised, shall have his soul cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.' As well as in Leviticus 12:3: On the eighth day, child's foreskin shall be circumcised. The penalty of non-observance was ''karet'', "excision" from the people as noted in Genesis 17:14. Conversion to Judaism for non-Israelites in Biblical times necessitated circumcision otherwise one could not partake in the Passover offering ( Exodus 12:48) or marry into a Jewish family (Genesis 34:14-16). HISTORY The original form of circumcision practiced by Jews has traditionally existed since the time of Abraham . The rite of ''milah'', initially consisted of cutting off only the tip of the foreskin, the part that extends past the Glans in the normal male infant. A more extensive form, involving ''periah'' (clearing the glans) was commenced after the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Two thousand years ago, Jewish hellenists, wanting to assimilate into Greek society, obliterated the sign of their circumcisions by finding ways to lengthen them, to make it look as if they had not been circumcised at all. This practice was unacceptable to the Jewish community at large. REASON As with many commandments, the Torah gives no specific reason why the covenant had to be remembered through circumcision. The 1st Century Jewish philosopher Philo stated that circumcision "represents the excision of the pleasure of sex, which bewitches the mind". A similar view is voiced by the 12th Century Jewish scholar Maimonides once argued that one of the purposes of the Brit milah was to reduce sexual behavior and to weaken the sexual bond between man and woman ( Guide For The Perplexed part III, chapter 49). KVATTER The name of ''Kvatter'' among Ashkenazi Jews is for the person who carries the baby from the mother to the Mohel . The origins of the term are not clear, but it is likely to be a Yiddish erroneous combination of the words "Kavod" ("honor" in Hebrew ) and "Tier" ("door" in Yiddish), meaning "The person honored by bringing the baby". The traditional custom is to honor as the ''Kvatter'' a young newly-wed couple (without children of their own yet) as a merit for having a baby. The young woman (''Kvatterin'') carries the baby from the mother and then hands it over to her husband. METZITZAH Alternately spelled ''mezizah'', mean "suction". By mouth ''Metzitzah b'peh'' ("suction by mouth") is a Halakhic practice in Haredi and Hasidic circles in which the Mohel has mouth-to-genital contact during ritual circumcision of baby boys. After the ''mila'', the ''mohel'' then sucks the baby's penis once to draw blood, much in the same fashion as medical science once prescribed for snakebite. The ''mohel'' spits the blood into a receptacle provided. Afterwards the circumcised penis is bandaged, and the operation considered complete. Some have feared that the practice may spread diseases to the babies from the mohel's mouth (such as Herpes ), but most ''mohelim'' are aware of this and ensure that their mouths are sanitized and washed out by rinsing with Alcohol to disinfect the mouth. However, controversy arose in New York City when health officials announced that in December of 2005 that they suspected that two infants who underwent the procedure had been infected with herpes and that one of them had subsequently died As the of the date of this writing, Jan/2006, there has been no confirmation that the mohel was the source of these infections. [http://select.nytimes.com/2006/01/09/nyregion/09matters.html?8hpib The foundation for the ritual of metzitzah b’peh is found in Mishnah Shabbat 19:2, which lists metzitzah b’peh as one of the four steps involved in the circumcision rite. The Chatam Sofer observed that the Mishnah states that the rationale for this part of the ritual was hygienic — i.e., to protect the health of the child. He also cited a passage in Nedarim 32a as a warrant for the position that metzitzah b’peh was not an obligatory part of the circumcision ceremony. As a result of these texts, the Chatam Sofer contended that Jewish tradition instituted metzitzeh b’eh solely to prevent danger to the infant and stated that metzitzah b’peh was not a required part of the circumcision ceremony. {Link without Title} By tube Most ''mohels'' have given up on the traditional practice of direct contact. The Modern Orthodox way is a modified procedure in which a tube separates the penis of the baby and the mouth of the rabbi, so the rabbi's mouth does not have direct contact with the baby's penis. In addition three studies in Israel, Canada and the United States have documented 11 cases of genital herpes. 1)Rubin LG, Lanzkowsky P. Cutaneous neonatal herpes simplex infection associated with ritual circumcision. Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal. 2000. 19(3) 266-267. 2)Distel R, Hofer V, Bogger-Goren S, Shalit I, Garty BZ. Primary genital herpes simplex infection associated with Jewish ritual circumcision. Israel Medical Association Journal. 2003 Dec;5(12):893-4 3)Gesundheit B, Grisaru-Soen G, Greenberg D, Levtzion-Korach O, Malkin D, Petric M, Koren G, Tendler MD , Ben-Zeev B, Vardi A, Dagan R, Engelhard D. Neonatal genital herpes simplex virus type 1 infection after Jewish ritual circumcision: modern medicine and religious tradition. 2004. Pediatrics. 114(2):259-63 CONVERSION AND EXCEPTIONS A ''Brit milah'' could be circumvented with ''Dam Brit'', or foregone altogether with a ''Milah L'Shem Giur'': Hatafat dam brit Medical circumcision alone, in the absence of the brit milah ceremony, does not fulfill the requirements of the mitzvah. In the case of a Jew who was circumcised outside of a brit milah, or an already-circumcised convert, the mohel draws a symbolic drop of blood from the penis. ''Hatafat dam brit'' ('' "Drop of the blood the Covenant") refers to the fulfillment of the '' Mitzvah '' of a ''brit milah''. Blood A '', which does allow for ''dam brit''. Unlike the traditional Jewish method, when circumcision is performed by a Urologist or other surgeon the foreskin is removed by constriction, either with the use of clamps or a synthetic ring. This non-Jewish method works by crushing the skin until it is severed. The nerve endings and the blood vessels are severed in the same manner, causing pain and hemeostasis. Role in conversion There are reasons not to perform a circumcision when a man has Converted To Judaism . A circumcision is not possible if a convert was already circumcised prior to conversion, or if he has a medical condition (such as Hemophilia ) which would cause a circumcision to potentially endanger his life. In these situations, a brit milah can not be performed, and instead a single drop of blood is extracted, in a practice called ''hatafat dam brit'' (Heb. הטפת דם ברית). Milah l'shem giur
SOCIAL CONTEXT According to the 19:23). However, the Israelites born in the wilderness after the were circumcised, but those "born in the wilderness" were not. Therefore Joshua, before the celebration of the Passover , had them circumcised at Gilgal. Deuteronomy 10:16 says: "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart," suggesting that ethical acts (among people) are as important as spiritual acts (between people and God). The prophetic tradition emphasizes that God expects people to be good as well as pious, and that non-Jews will be judged based on their ethical behavior. Thus, Jeremiah 9:25-26 says that circumcised and uncircumcised will be punished alike by the Lord; for "all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart." RECENT VIEWS Historical view Recent historians maintain that the "limited" form of circumcision, with only the removal of the tip of the prepuce, was actually practiced up to the time of the Syrian-Greek occupation, when the procedure was extended to make it impossible for men to "undo" their circumcision. There is no basis for this view in classical Rabbinic Sources , which state that the "extended" form of circumcision was introduced at Mount Sinai. The anti-circumcision movement The anti-circumcision movement has not made significant inroads into any of the Jewish denominations. However, a small number of contemporary Jews choose to not circumcise their sons. They are assisted by a small number of Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis, and have developed a welcoming ceremony that they call the '' Brit Shalom '' ("Covenant {Link without Title} Peace") for such children. This ceremony is not officially approved of by the Reform or Reconstructionist rabbinical organizations. Rabbis in these movements strongly recommend circumcision for all male infants, and for all men who convert into Judaism. In contrast with Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism , these formerly liberal denominations generally have made this a strong "recommendation" as opposed to an "obligation" (or "requirement"). Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism have often accepted medical circumcisions performed by doctors as sufficient to fulfill the commandment of ''brit milah''. However, in recent years these movements have begun stressing the religious and ritual nature of circumcision and have begun training their own experts ('' Mohalim '') in this ritual. Brit Shalom is most fully accepted in Humanistic Judaism . In Israel there are several secular groups such as Kalal that advocate against or supply information that is critical of circumcision. SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS Sources that favor the brit milah
Sources against or warning about the brit milah
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