Brit milah

Brit milah
Halakhic sources*
Texts in Jewish law relating to this article:
Bible:	Genesis 17:1-14, Leviticus 12:3
* Not meant as a definitive ruling. Some observances may be rabbinical, customs or Torah based.

Brit milah (Hebrew: בְּרִית מִילָה [b'rīt mī'lā], Ashkenazi pronunciation, bris milôh, "covenant of circumcision"; Yiddish pronunciation, bris) is a Jewish religious circumcision ceremony performed on 8-day old male infants by a mohel. The brit milah is followed by a celebratory meal (seudat mitzvah).

Biblical references

"Isaac's Circumcision", Regensburg Pentateuch, c1300

In the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 17:1-14) circumcision was enjoined by God to the Biblical patriarch Abraham, an act to be followed by his descendants:

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.' [...] 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 [slaves] 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. (Genesis 17:1-14)

As well as in Leviticus 12:3:

On the eighth day, [the child's] foreskin shall be circumcised.

According to the Hebrew Bible, it was "a reproach" for an Israelite to be uncircumcised (Joshua 5:9.) The name arelim ("uncircumcised" [plural]) is used opprobriously, denoting the Philistines and other non-Israelites (I Samuel 14:6, 31:4; II Samuel 1:20) and used synonymously with tameh (unclean) for heathen (Isaiah 52:1). The word arel ("uncircumcised" [singular]) is also employed for "unclean" (Leviticus 26:41, "their uncircumcised hearts"; compare Jeremiah 9:25; Ezekiel 44:7,9); it is even applied to the first three years' fruit of a tree, which is forbidden (Leviticus 19:23).

However, the Israelites born in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt were not circumcised. Joshua 5:2-9, explains, "all the people that came out" of Egypt were circumcised, but those "born in the wilderness" were not. Therefore Joshua, before the celebration of the Passover, had them circumcised at Gilgal specifically before they entered Canaan. Abraham, too, was circumcised when he moved into Canaan.

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."

The penalty of non-observance is kareth (excision from the Jewish nation), as noted in Genesis 17:1-14. Conversion to Judaism for non-Israelites in Biblical times necessitated circumcision otherwise one could not partake in the Passover offering (Exodus 12:48). Today, as in the time of Abraham, it is required of converts in Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism . (Genesis 34:14-16).

As found in Genesis 17:1-14, Brit milah is considered to be so important that should the eighth day fall on the Sabbath, actions that would normally be forbidden because of the sanctity of the day are permitted in order to fulfill the requirement to circumcise. The Talmud, when discussing the importance of Milah, compares it to being equal to all other mitzvot based on the gematria for brit of 612.^[1]

Ceremony

Time and place

It is customary for the brit to be held in a synagogue, but it can also be held at home or any other suitable location. The brit is performed on the eighth day from the baby's birth, taking into consideration that according to the Jewish calendar, the day begins at the sunset of the day before. If the baby is born on Sunday before sunset, the Brit will be held the following Sunday. However, if the baby is born on Sunday night after sunset, the Brit is on the following Monday. The brit takes place on the eighth day following birth even if that day is Shabbat or a holiday. A brit is traditionally performed in the morning, but it may be performed any time during daylight hours. ^[2]

Postponement for health reasons

If the child is born prematurely or has other serious medical problems, the brit milah will be postponed until the doctors and mohel deem the child strong enough.

Kvatter

Set of brit milah implements, Göttingen city museum

The name of Kvatter or Kvatterin (female) among Ashkenazi Jews is for the person who carries the baby from the mother to the father, who in turn carries him to the mohel. This honor is usually given to a couple without children, as a merit or charm that they should have children of their own. The origins of the term may simply be a corruption of "Gevatter", an archaic German word for godfather^[3], but it is also said to be a Yiddish erroneous combination of the words "Kavod" ("honor" in Hebrew) and "Tor" ("door" in Yiddish), meaning "The person honored by bringing the baby". Another source is a mix of Hebrew and Yiddish meaning 'like the father'.

Seudat mitzvah

After the ceremony, a celebratory meal takes place. At the birkat hamazon additional introductory lines, known as Nodeh Leshimcha, are added. These lines praise God and request the permission of God, the Torah, Kohanim and distinguished people present to proceed with the grace. When the four main blessings are concluded, special ha-Rachaman prayers are recited which request that God bless the parents of the baby, and help them raise him wisely; the sandek; the baby boy to have strength and grow up to trust in God and perceive Him three times a year; the mohel for unhesitatingly performing the ritual; to send the Jewish Messiah speedily in the merit of this mitzvah; and to send Elijah the prophet, known as "The Righteous Kohen", so that God's covenant can be fulfilled with the re-establishment of the throne of King David.

Metzitzah technique

Hemostat (center) is used to keep the two layers of the foreskin together so that they are cut and removed as one. The guard (top center) is slid over the foreskin as close to the glans as possible to allow for maximum removal of the former without any injury to the latter. The scalpel is used to detach the foreskin, and the underlying blue bag is a sterilization pouch for the metal tools. The tube (center left) was used for metzitzah

Less commonly practised, and more controversial, is metzitzah b'peh, (alt. mezizah), or oral suction,^[4][5] where the mohel sucks blood from the circumcision wound. The traditional reason for this procedure is to promote healing,^[6][7] although the practice has been implicated in the spreading of herpes to the infant.^[8]

A sterilized glass tube is now used. ^[9][10] However, the practice has become a controversy in both secular and Jewish medical ethics. The ritual of metzitzah is found in Mishnah Shabbat 19:2, which lists it as one of the four steps involved in the circumcision rite. The Chasam Sofer observed that the Talmud states that the rationale for this part of the ritual was hygienic — i.e., to protect the health of the child. The Chasam Sofer contended that metzitzah with a sponge would accomplish the same purpose as oral suction. His letter was published in Kochvei Yitzchok.^[11] The Maharam Shik, a student of the Chasam Sofer, states in his book of Responsa, She’eilos U’teshuvos Maharam Shik (Orach Chaim 152,) that the Chasam Sofer gave the ruling in that specific instance only and that it may not be applied elsewhere. He also states (Yoreh Deah 244) that the practice is possibly a Sinaitic tradition, i.e., Halacha l'Moshe m'Sinai.

The Sdei Chemed claimed the practice to be Halacha l'Moshe m'Sinai and elaborates on what prompted the Chasam Sofer to give the above ruling:^[12]. He tells the story that a student of the Chasam Sofer, Lazar Horowitz, author of Yad Elazer and Chief Rabbi of Vienna at the time, needed the ruling because of a governmental attempt to ban circumcision completely if it included Metztitzah b'peh. He therefore asked the Chasam Sofer to give him permission to do Brit milah without metzitzah b’peh. When he presented the defense in court, they erroneously recorded his testimony to mean that the Chasam Sofer stated it as a general ruling. ^[13]

Medical controversy

"Chair of Elijah" used during the brit milah ceremony

Yaakov Aryeh Alter as Sandek

Metzitzah b'peh was implicated in the transfer of herpes from mohelim to eight Israeli infants, one of whom suffered brain damage.^[8][14] When three New York City infants contracted herpes after metzizah b'peh by one mohel and one of them died, New York authorities took out a restraining order against the mohel requiring use of a sterile glass tube, or pipette.^[10][15] However, the mohel's attorney argued that the New York Department of Health had not supplied conclusive medical evidence linking his client with the disease.^[15][16] In September 2005, the city withdrew the restraining order and turned the matter over to a rabbinical court.^[17] Dr. Thomas Frieden, the Health Commissioner of New York City, wrote, "There exists no reasonable doubt that ‘metzitzah b'peh’ can and has caused neonatal herpes infection.…The Health Department recommends that infants being circumcised not undergo metzitzah b'peh."^[18] In May 2006, the Department of Health for New York State, issued a protocol for the performance of metzitzah b'peh.^[19] Dr. Antonia C. Novello, Commissioner of Health for New York State, together with a board of rabbis and doctors, worked, she said, to "allow the practice of metzizah b'peh to continue while still meeting the Department of Health's responsibility to protect the public health."^[20]

In three medical papers done in Israel, Canada, and the USA, oral suction following circumcision was suggested as a cause in 11 cases of neonatal herpes.^[8][21][22]

Because of the risk of infection, some rabbinical authorities have ruled that the traditional practice of direct contact should be replaced by using a glass tube between the wound and the mohel's mouth, so there is no direct oral contact. The Rabbinical Council of America, the largest group of Modern Orthodox rabbis, endorses this method.^[23] The RCA paper states: "Rabbi Schachter even reports that Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik reports that his father, Rav Moshe Soloveitchik, would not permit a mohel to perform metzitza be’peh with direct oral contact, and that his grandfather, Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, instructed mohelim in Brisk not to do metzitza be’peh with direct oral contact. However, although Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik also generally prohibited metzitza be’peh with direct oral contact, he did not ban it by those who insisted upon it,...". The sefer Mitzvas Hametzitzah^[24] by Rabbi Sinai Schiffer of Baden, Germany, states that he is in possession of letters from 36 major Russian (Lithuanian) rabbis that categorically prohibit Metzitzah with a sponge and require it to be done orally. Among them is Rabbi Chaim Halevi Soloveitchik of Brisk.

Additionally, the Talmud explicitly instructs that a boy must not be circumcised if he had two brothers who died due to complications arising from their circumcisions^[25]; this may be due to a concern about haemophilia^[25]. An Israeli study found a high rate of urinary tract infections if the bandage is left on too long.^[26]

Hatafat dam brit

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.

A brit milah is not considered complete unless blood is actually drawn. This is not the intentional spilling of blood. The standard medical methods of circumcision through constriction do not meet the requirements of the halakhah for brit milah, because they cause hemostasis, i.e., they stop the flow of blood. A brit milah, to be conducted properly, requires the use of a specialized surgical knife, called an izmel, 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 hemostasis.

The expressly ritual element of circumcision in Judaism, as distinguished from its non-ritual requirement in Islam, is shown by the requirement that a child who either is born aposthetic (without a foreskin) or who has been circumcised without the ritual must nevertheless undergo a Brit milah in which a drop of blood (hatafat-dam, הטפת דם) is drawn from the penis at the point where the foreskin would have been or was attached.^[27]

Milah l'shem giur

A Milah L'shem giur is a "Circumcision for the purpose of conversion". In Orthodox Judaism, this procedure is usually done by adoptive parents for adopted boys who are being converted as part of the adoption or by families with young children converting together. The conversion of a minor is valid in both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism until a child reaches the age of majority (13 for a boy, 12 for a girl); at that time the child has the option of renouncing his conversion and Judaism, and the conversion will then be considered retroactively invalid. He must be informed of his right to renounce his conversion if he wishes. If he does not make such a statement it is accepted that the boy is halakhically Jewish. Orthodox rabbis will generally not convert a non-Jewish child raised by a mother who has not converted to Judaism.^[28]

The laws of conversion and conversion-related circumcision in Orthodox Judaism have numerous complications, and authorities recommend that a rabbi be consulted well in advance.

In Conservative Judaism, the Milah l'Shem giur procedure is also performed for a boy whose mother has not converted, but with the intention that the child be raised Jewish. This conversion of a child to Judaism without the conversion of the mother is allowed by Conservative interpretations of halakha. Conservative Rabbis will authorize it only under the condition that the child be raised as a Jew in a single-faith household. Should the mother convert, and if the boy has not yet reached his third birthday, the child may be immersed in the mikveh with the mother, after the mother has already immersed, to become Jewish. If the mother does not convert, the child may be immersed in a mikveh, or body of natural waters, to complete the child's conversion to Judaism. This can be done before the child is even one year old. If the child did not immerse in the mikveh, or the boy was too old, then the child may choose of their own accord to become Jewish at age 13 as a Bar Mitzvah, and complete the conversion then.^[29]

• It does not have to be performed on a particular day.
• The ceremony does override Shabbat and Jewish Holidays.[1] [2]
• In Orthodox Judaism, there is a split of authorities on whether the child receives a Hebrew name at the Brit ceremony or upon immersion in the Mikvah. According to Zichron Brit LeRishonim, naming occurs at the Brit with a different formula than the standard Brit Milah. The more common practice among Ashkenazic Jews follows Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, with naming occurring at immersion.

Where the procedure was performed but not followed by immersion or other requirements of the conversion procedure (e.g., in Conservative Judaism, where the mother has not converted), if the boy chooses to complete the conversion at Bar Mitzvah, a Milah l'shem giur performed when the boy was an infant removes the obligation to undergo either a full brit milah or hatafat dam brit.

Reform Judaism

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In contrast with traditional Orthodox, Conservative and Masorti Judaism, denominations within Progressive Judaism, Reform at first rejected circumcision as a barbaric practice.^[30] This approach has gradually shifted in favor of one in which traditional rituals are accepted and even encouraged, and the tradition merely imposes no obligations binding on modernity. To this end, Reform has generally made Brit Milah a recommendation as opposed to an obligation or requirement, consistent with the movement's stressing of autonomy of its members and clergy. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism have often accepted medical circumcisions performed by doctors as sufficient to fulfill the commandment of brit milah. In recent years a traditionalist element within these movements has begun stressing the religious and ritual nature of circumcision, as part of a growing trend towards wider acceptance of tradition, and since 1984 Reform Judaism has trained and certified over 300 of their own practicing (mohalim) in this ritual.^[31][32]

History

The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, hypothesizes that the present form of circumcision, involving periah (peeling back the foreskin), was commenced during the Second Temple period. According to this hypothesis, 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.^[33] This practice was unacceptable to the Jewish community at large, and led to the complete removal of the foreskin to expose the glans. The frenulum may also be cut away at the same time, in a procedure called frenectomy.^[34]

Reasons for circumcision

In Of the Special Laws, Book 1, the Jewish philosopher Philo (20 BC - AD 50) gives six reasons for the practice of circumcision.^[35] He notes that four of the reasons had been passed down by Jewish religious scholars. These include the idea that circumcision 1) protects against disease, 2) secures cleanliness "in a way that is suited to the people consecrated to God", 3) causes the circumcised portion of the penis to resemble a heart, thereby representing a physical connection between the "breath contained within the heart [that] is generative of thoughts, and the generative organ itself [that] is productive of living beings", and 4) promotes prolificness by removing impediments to the flow of semen. To these, Philo added two of his own reasons, including the idea that circumcision 5) "signified figuratively the excision of all superfluous and excessive pleasure" and 6) symbolically removes the "grievous malady of conceit" that humans can procreate the "fairest of creatures, man" in the absence of God.

Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon "Rambam", CE 1135-1204), who apart from being a great Torah scholar was also a physician, philosopher, noted that circumcision acts to repress sexual pleasure and serves as a common bodily sign to members of the same faith.^[36]

Talmud professor Daniel Boyarin offered two explanations for circumcision. One is that it is a literal inscription on the Jewish body of the name of God in the form of the letter "yud" (from "yesod"). The second is that the act of bleeding represents a feminization of Jewish men, significant in the sense that the covenant represents a marriage between Jews and (a symbolically male) God.^[37]

The anti-circumcision movement and brit shalom

Many founding leaders of the Reform movement took a very rejectionist view of Jewish practice and discarded traditions and rituals, including circumcision, which was decried as barbaric.^[30] Some contemporary Jews choose not to circumcise their sons.^[38] 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 [of] Peace") for such children, also accepted by Humanistic Judaism.^[39][40]

This ceremony of brit shalom is not officially approved of by the Reform or Reconstructionist rabbinical organizations, who make the recommendation that male infants should be circumcised, as well as all men who convert into Judaism,^[41][42] though circumcision of converts is not mandatory in either movement.^[43]

However, the connection of the Reform movement to an anti-circumcision, pro-symbolic stance is a historical one. From the early days of the movement in Germany, some classical Reformers hoped to replace ritual circumcision "with a symbolic act, as has been done for other bloody practices, such as the sacrifices."^[44] As a result, many European Jewish fathers during the nineteenth century chose not to circumcise their sons, including Theodore Herzl.^[45] In the US, an official Reform resolution in 1893 abolished circumcision for converts,^[46] and this ambivalence towards the practice has carried over to classical-minded Reform Jews today. In Rabbi Elyse Wechterman's essay A Plea for Inclusion, she argues that, even in the absence of circumcision, committed Jews should never be turned away, especially by a movement "where no other ritual observance is mandated". She goes on to advocate for an alternate covenant ceremony, brit atifah, for both boys and girls as a welcoming ritual into Judaism.^[47] With a continuing negativity towards circumcision still present within a minority of modern-day Reform, Judaic scholar Jon Levenson has warned that if they "continue to judge brit milah to be not only medically unnecessary but also brutalizing and mutilating...the abhorrence of it expressed by some early Reform leaders will return with a vengeance", proclaiming that circumcision will be "the latest front in the battle over the Jewish future in America."^[48] Nevertheless, it has "remained a central rite" in Reform Judaism,^[30] and the Union for Reform Judaism has, since 1984, trained and certified over 300 practicing mohels under its "Berit Mila Program".^[49]

In Israel, while still a minority, a rapidly growing number of Jewish families are choosing not to have their sons circumcised, arguing that circumcision is not necessary amongst Jews.^[50] For example, Ya'acov Malkin, the academic director of the College of Judaism as Culture in Israel, says of circumcision: "I don't regard it as a religious act at all... if it's medically not necessary, it's not necessary." While the Humanistic Judaism movement argues that "circumcision is not required for Jewish identity." ^[50]

References

External links

• CircCentral, an online museum of circumcision tools
• Jewish Encyclopedia entry on circumcision
• The Initiation Society - The regulatory body for mohelim in the UK. Information on the ceremony and naming of the child, as well as a list of mohelim.
• Circumcision, Jewish Virtual Library

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