Article Discussion: Circumcision Alone a Jew Does Not Make

[admin]

Click here to read the article:Circumcision Alone a Jew Does Not Make

[Haggy]

You fail to consider that being circumcised later in life is far from rare. I know somebody who was circumcised when he was in the Navy, after a series of infections made it a recommended procedure.  I never asked him about his sex life, and the operation seemed to be a mere side note, as relevant as getting one's tonsils out might have been.

The fact that those who were circumcised later in life are not jumping on any bandwagon shows that those with firsthand experience don't seem to feel that it's a something to champion.

Incidentally, both of his sons were circumcised. I have no idea whether either of them had their tonsils out, but I understand that there's much more debate these days about whether it's medically necessary.

[Lynn]

I don't feel that a parent has the right to circumcise their son any more than they have the right to circumcise their daughter. Circumcision is a dangerous and invasive surgery that is life threatening. It's an optional cosmetic surgery and I don't feel I have the right to make decisions about what my son's penis should look like. Just because I give birth to him doesn't mean I own his body. Plus, I've never heard of a man who claimed to be Jewish be asked to pull his pants down and show off his circumcision before he was accepted. Your actions, beliefs and relationship with G-d make you Jewish. Not a lack of foreskin. Most men in the United States who are circumcised are Christian so circumcision is no longer a "mark of a Jew." I'm glad that a rabbi recognizes this.

[Anon]

Plus, I've never heard of a man who claimed to be Jewish be asked to pull his pants down and show off his circumcision before he was accepted.

It happens. In my Hebrew school class there was a boy who wasn't circumcized. The rabbi knew and wouldn't let him have a bar mitzvah even though he was being raised a Jew, had always gone to Temple and Hebrew School etc.

[Lynn]

I'd be curious to know why the rabbi would be aware of what his pupil's penis looks like.

[Anon]

My classmate never made it a secret: we all knew he hadnt been circumcized. His parents didnt keep it a secret. The rabbi knew because the family talked about there choices.

[Lynn]

So, he forbids the child from having a bar mitzvah because the child has too much penis?

[Benjamin Maron]

Quite an interesting conversation happening here.

Lynn, it seems the rabbi of Anon's synagogue, like many rabbis, holds the belief that for a boy to be received as a member of the Jewish community, they must be circumcized. As the bar mitzvah marks the entry into Jewish adulthood, I suspect there were questions of how this boy would become a Jewish adult if he wasn't yet Jewish.

Many synagogues have rules concerning the way in which a family member or visitor to the congregation who is not Jewish may participate in services, whether or not they can receive honors (such as an aliyah), etc. (For more examples, you might look at our booklets, Shabbat: What to Expect at a Synagogue and Bar/Bat Mitzvah for the Interfaith Family.) It sounds like this rabbi may have believed this child was not Jewish. I hope that the family was involved in any decisions about the bar mitzvah. Perhaps they were asked to bring their son to a mikveh and/or a mohel/mohelet for a bris and declined. Perhaps the rabbi had creative suggestions on how to include an "affirmation ceremony" as part of the bar mitzvah, but they weren't interested.

One of the complications that arises from changing or creating new rituals is that halakha (Jewish law) doesn't always keep up. It's possible that were this to happen again, it would be handled differently. But, depending on the Jewish denomination of the rabbi/synagogue, it might have a similar outcome today.